266 ebenace^e. (ebony family.) 



pettier in the arils and at the tips of the branches — Low pine barren?, Virginia 

 (Pursh) and southward. — Shrub l°-4° high. 



3. §. Asinea^iciasicl, Lam, Leaves oblong, acute at both ends (V -li' 

 long), smooth, or harehj pulverulent beneath; Jloicers axillary or in 3 - A-flowered 

 racemes (^' long) ; corolla valvate hi. the bud. (S. glabrum and S. laave, Ell.) — 

 Margin of swamps, Virginia and southward. May. — Shrub 4° -8° high. 



2. IIAJLESIA, Ellis. Snowdrop or Silver-bell-Tree. 



Calyx inversely conical, 4-toothed ; the tube 4-ribbed, coherent with the 2-4- 

 cclled ovary. Petals 4, united at the base, or oftener to the middle, into an open 

 bell-shaped corolla, convolute or imbricated in the bud. Stamens 8- 16 : fila 

 nients united into a ring at the base, and usually a little coherent with the base 

 of the corolla : anthers linear-oblong. Ovules 4 in each cell. Fruit large and 

 dry, 2-4-winged, within bony and 1 -4-celled. Seeds single in each cell, cylin- 

 drical. — Shrubs or small trees, with large and veiny pointed deciduous leaves, 

 and showy white flowers, drooping on slender pedicels, in clusters or short ra- 

 cemes, from axillary buds of the preceding year. Pubescence partly stellate. 

 (Named for S. Hales, author of Vegetable Statics, &e.) 



1. H. fetr;3S>fera, L. Leaves oblong-ovate; fruit 4-winged, — Banks 

 of streams, upper part of Virginia, also on the Ohio River at Evansville (Short), 

 and southward. Fruit l£' long. 



3. SY3IPLOCOS, Jacq. § H6PEA, L. Sweet-Leaf. 



Calyx 5-cleft, the tube coherent with the lower part of the 3-cclled ovary. 

 Petals 5, imbricated in the bud, lightly united at the base. Stamens very nu- 

 merous, in 5 clusters, one cohering with the hasc of each petal : filaments slen- 

 der : anthers very short. Fruit drupe-like or dry, mostly 1-celled and 1-seeded. 

 — Shrubs or small trees ; the leaves commonly turning yellowish in drying, and 

 furnishing a yellow dye. Flowers in axillary clusters or racemes, yellow. 

 (Name o-vhtt\okos, connected, from the union of the stamens. Hopca was dedi- 

 cated to Dr. Hope, of Edinburgh. ) 



1. §. tiaactwrla, L'Her. (Horse-Sugar, &c.) Leaves elongated-ob- 

 long, acute, obscurely toothed, thickish, almost persistent, minutely pubescent 

 and pale beneath (3' -5' long); flowers 6-14, in close and bracted clusters, 

 odorous. — Rich ground, Virginia and southward. April. — Leaves sweet, 

 greedily eaten by cattle. 



Order 66. EBENACEiE. (Ebony Family.) 



Trees or shrubs, with alternate entire leaves, and polygamous regular flow- 

 ers which have a calyx free from the 3 - 12-celled ovary ; the stamens 2-4 

 times as many as the lobes of the corolla, often in pairs before them, their 

 anthers turned inwards, and the fruit a several-celled berry. Ovules 1 or 2, 

 suspended from the summit of each cell. Seeds anatropcus, mostly single in 

 each cell, large and flat, with a smooth coriaceous integument ; the embryo 



