MYRICACE^E. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 179. 



MYRICA. 



$. Catkins ovate-oblong, consisting of bracts loosely im- 

 bricated in every direction. Calyx 1 or 2 subulate scales. 

 Bracts ovate, bluntish, concave, each containing 4, rarely more, 

 short, capillary, erect filaments. Anthers vertical, large, of 2 

 divided lobes. $ . Catkins as in the but more compact. 

 Sepals 2, ovate, acute, scale-like. Ovary ovate, flattish, superior. 

 Stigmas 2, thread-shaped, spreading, longer than the sepals. 

 Fruit baccate, 1 -celled, various in substance. Seed 1, erect. 



628. M. Gale Linn. ^p. pi 1453. Eng, Sot. t. 562. Smith 

 Eng. Fl. iv. 239. Bogs and marshes. (Sweet Gale.) 



Stem upright, bushy, 3 or 4 feet high, with numerous alternate 

 branches. Leaves alternate, on short stalks, obovate-lanceolate, acute, 

 serrated in their upper parts, 1^ inch long, deciduous ; green and smooth 

 on both sides ; the under side palest. Catkins numerous, sessile, formed 

 during summer in the bosoms of the leaves, and remaining through the 

 winter. In the following March they are full-grown, expanding in 

 May. Scales of a red shining brown ; the lower ones of the female 

 catkins hairy towards the tip. Smith. Fruit extremely fragrant, con- 

 sisting of an achenium placed between 2 succulent, ovate fleshy sepals, 

 which adhere to its sides, all covered with waxy aromatic granulations. 

 Seed solitary, erect. The infusion has been used to cure the itch, and 

 also as a vermifuge. The leaves are used in Sweden as a substitute for 

 hops in brewing. 



629. M. cerifera Linn. sp. pi. 1453. Willd. iv. 745. Bige- 

 low med. lot. iii. t. 43. Woods in the United States. (Wax 

 myrtle or Bayberry.) 



A branching half-evergreen bush from 1 to 12 feet high. Leaves 

 cuneate-lanceolate, sometimes entire, but more frequently toothed, 

 particularly toward the end, somewhat pubescent, a little paler beneath, 

 and generally twisted, or revolute in their mode of growth. The flowers 

 appear in May before the leaves are fully expanded. The males grow 

 in catkins, which are sessile, erect, about half an inch or three quarters 

 long ; originating from the sides of the last year's twigs. Every flower 

 is formed by a concave rhomboidal scale, containing 3 or 4 pairs of 

 roundish anthers on a branched footstalk. The females, which grow 

 on a different shrub, are less than half the size of the males, and consist 

 of narrower scales, with each an ovate ovary, and two filiform styles. 

 To these catkins succeed clusters or aggregations of small globular 

 fruits resembling berries, which are at first green, but finally become 

 305 x 



