CASSYTHACEAE 823 



1. Malapoenna geniculata (Walt.) Coulter. A spreading shrub 2-3 m. tall, 

 with zigzag branches: leaf -blades oblong to elliptic, 1.5-6 cm. long: flowers 24 

 together: sepals yellow, 2-3 mm. long: drupes 5-6 mm. in diameter, red. 



In shallow ponds, Georgia to Florida and Louisiana. Winter and spring ; matures its 

 fruit in the summer. POND-SPICE. 



7. MISANTECA Cham & Schlecht. 



Evergreen shrubs or trees. Leaves alternate, persistent: blades entire, leathery. 

 Flowers perfect, inconspicuous, in panicled cymes. Sepals 6, nearly similar, short, 

 erect, about as long as the enlarged portion of the hypanthium. Style columnar: 

 stigma minute, surrounded by the 3 erect stamens. Drupe slightly elongated, seated 

 in the cup-like hypanthium which is bordered by the persistent calyx. 



1. Misanteca triandra (Sw.) Mez. A tree with somewhat flaky bark: leaf- 

 blades elliptic, oblong or oval, 4.5-11 cm. long, abruptly acuminate, but often blunt, 

 lustrous above: calyx whitish, 2-2.5 mm. broad; sepals obtuse: fruits acorn-like, the 

 drupe ovoid or oblong-ovoid, 2-2.5 cm. long, green, the hypanthium reddish. 



In hammocks, near Miami, Florida. Also in Cuba and Jamaica. Summer. 



8. BENZOIN Fabr. 



Shrubs or trees, strong-scented. Leaves alternate, deciduous: blades entire. 

 Flowers in sessile cluster-like or umbel-like cymes. Style slender-columnar. Drupes 

 somewhat elongated. 



Leaf-blades rounded or cordate at the base, pubescent on both sides. 1.' B. melissaefolium. 



Leaf-blades acute at the base, glabrous, or sparingly pubescent beneath. 2. B. aestivale. 



1. Benzoin melissaefolium (Walt.) Nees. Shrub 3-10 dm. tall, the branches, 

 foliage and inflorescence pubescent. Leaf -blades firm, oblong or oval, 3-12 cm. long, 

 acutish, usually short-acuminate, more or less densely pubescent on both sides, rounded 

 or cordate at the base, short -petioled : flowers yellow, in dense lateral clusters, appear- 

 ing before the leaves: pedicels equalling the sepals or longer: sepals thin, 1-1.5 mm. 

 long : stamens dilated below : drupe obovoid, nearly 1 cm. long. [Lindera meUssaefolia 

 (Walt.) Blume.] 



About ponds and swamps, North Carolina to Missouri, Florida and Alabama. Winter 

 and spring. 



2. Benzoin aestivale (L.) Nees. A strong-scented and spicy shrub 1-3 m. tall, 

 the branches glabrous. Leaf-blades obovate, oval or elliptic, 5-12 cm. long, thin, 

 obtuse or usually short-acuminate and acute at the apex, often slightly ciliate, acute 

 or acuminate at the base, deep green and glabrous above, pale or glaucescent and 

 glabrous or sparingly pubescent beneath, short-petioled, deciduous: flowers yellow, 

 in dense clusters appearing before the leaves, 6-8 mm. broad: pedicels 3-5 cm. long: 

 sepals thin, obovate or oblong, obtuse, truncate or retuse at the apex: stamens shorter 

 than the sepals, slightly dilated below: drupe oval, about 1 cm. long, longer than the 

 pedicel. [Lindera Benzoin (L.) Blume.] 



In swamps and along streams, Massachusetts to Ontario, Michigan, middle Georgia, 

 Tennessee and Kansas. Spring ; fruit ripening in August. 



FAMILY 4. CASSYTHACEAE Dumort. CASSYTHA FAMILY. 



Parasitic vines. Leaves mere scales, or wanting. Flowers perfect, in heads, 

 spikes or racemes. Calyx of 6 sepals in 2 unequal series, surmounting the 

 accrescent hypanthium. Androecium of 9 stamens with 2-celled anthers, and 3 

 staminodia. Gynoecium of a single carpel. Drupe included. 



1. CASSYTHA L. 



Characters of the family. 



1. Cassytha filifdrmis L. Stems matted on herbs and bushes yellowish green: 

 flowers 3-6 in a spike: inner sepals triangular-ovate, 2-3 times larger than the outer: 

 drupe subglobose, 5-7 mm. in diameter. 



In pine lands and coastal hammocks, peninsular Florida and the Keys. Circum- 

 tropical. 



