ILICINE^E. 229 



ORDER LXXIII. EBENACE^E. Vent. Lind. 



Flowers polygamous or dioecious, rarely perfect. Catyx 

 3 6-divided, nearly equal, persistent. Carol monopetalous, 

 regular, deciduous, somewhat coriaceous, 3 6-divided ; aesti- 

 vation imbricated. Stamens inserted on the corol, or hypogy- 

 nous, definite ; filaments usually in two rows ; anthers erect, 

 linear-lanceolate, 2-celled, bursting longitudinally. Ovary 

 free, sessile, many-celled ; ovules I or 2 in each cell, pendu- 

 lous ; style divided, rarely simple ; stigmas simple or bifid. 

 Fruit fleshy, round or oval, the pericarp sometimes opening 

 regularly. Seeds few, with a membranous coat ; embryo 

 straight ; albumen cartilaginous ; radicle next the hilum ; co- 

 tyledons foliaceous. 



Trees or shrubs, without milky juice. Leaves coriaceous, 

 alternate, without stipules. 



1. DIOSPYROS. Linn. 



Dioecious. Calyx 4 6-cleft. Corol urceolate, 4 6-cleft, 

 STERILE FL. Stamens 8 16, often producing 2 anthers. 

 FERTILE FL. Style I. Stigmas 45. Berry 8 12-cell- 

 ed. Dioecia. Octandria. 



D. virginiana Linn. : leaves ovate-oblong, acuminate, reticulatelj 

 veined, nearly smooth ; petioles pubescent ; buds smooth. 



HAB. Woods. Penn. to Geor. and throughout the Western States. 

 May. T>. A small tree, seldom more than 30 40 feet high. 

 Leaves alternate. Flowers solitary, axillary, on short peduncles, 

 greenish-yellow. Fruit as large as a common plum, golden-yel- 

 low, well flavored when fully ripe, but very astringent before 

 that time. Persimmon. 



ORDER LXXIV. ILICINE^E. Lind. 



Sepals 4 6 ; estivation imbricated. Corol monopetalous, 

 4 5-parted, hypogynous ; aestivation imbricated. Stamens 

 inserted into the corol, alternate with its segments ; filaments 

 erect ; anthers adnate. Disk none. Ovary fleshy, superior, 

 somewhat truncate, 2 6-celled ; ovules solitary, pendulous 

 from a cup-shaped funiculus ; stigma subsessile, lobed. Fruit 

 fleshy, indehiscent, with from 2 to 6 stones. Seed suspended, 

 nearly sessile ; albumen large, fleshy ; embryo small, 2-lobed, 

 lying next the hilum, with minute cotyledons and a superior re- 

 dicle. 



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