LORANTllACEiE. (MISTLETOE FAMILY.) 711 



Fruit a false drupe, the pulp and stone formed by the growth and 

 hardening of the perigonium - tube, pericarp membranous, 1-seeded, 

 apiculate at base of style. Albumen small, embryo straight, radicle 

 inferior — Trees and shrubs, with alternate leaves. 



E. llorteii§is, M. B. 5 ^ to 8, unarmed or spinescent. Leaves 

 lenticular-lanceolate to lanceolate-linear, sometimes ovate, .02 to .00 

 long. Flowers .005 long, 1-3 in the axillary clusters; pedicels about 

 as long as silvery tube; lobes triangular, yellow within, rather shorter 

 than tube; style glabrous; fruit either small, tasteless, or as large as an 

 olive, edible — ]\Iay and June — Spontaneous and cultivated ; common. 



Order XCI. I^ORA»fTHACE.E, Lindl. (Mistletoe Family.) 



Parasitic skrtcls, v.ith leaves opposite or — Flowers 

 perfect or dioecious. Calyx-tube adnate to ovary, with 3-4- 

 cleft limb or 0. Corolla 0, or consisting of petals inserted on 

 the calyx-tube. Stamens as many as calyx-lobes, opposite 

 them or the petals. Ovary inferior, 1-celled, with 1, erect, 

 orthotropous, ovule; style simple. Fruit a drupe-like berry, 

 with seed adhering to the pericarp. Embryo l-cc, inverted, 

 half imbedded in a superficial depression of the fleshy 

 albumen. 



1. LORANTUUS. 5 Petals 4-8. Flowers usually perfect. 

 9. VISCUM. 5 Petals 4, scale-like in pistillate, in staminate flowers-. 

 3. ARCEUTH0BIU]\r, 2X Petals 0. Flowers diojcious. Leafless plants with aspoo( of 

 Salicornia. 



1. EORA^^THL'S, L. Mistletoe. 



Flowers perfect, rarely dioecious. Calyx-tube ovate or top-shaped, 

 connate with ovary, with very short, truncate or dentate limb. Petals 

 4-8, at top of calyx-tube, free, or connected at base, valvate. Stamens 

 opposite petals, with filaments more or less adnate to them ; anthers 

 2-celled. Style filiform ; stigma simple. Berry ovate or top-shaped, 

 1-celled, 1-seeded. 



1. Li. Europaeil^i, L. 5 -^ to .5, glabrous, forked; branches 

 terete. Leaves opposite, petioled, oblong - spathulate to elliptical, 

 .03 to .03 long, obtuse, sparingly veiny, tapering at base. Flowers 

 small, usually dioecious, opposite, cream- colored^ arranged in simple, 

 short, loose, terminal spikes; petals 6, linear, recurved, once-and-a-half 

 as long as calyx; berry globular-obovate, .OOd in diameter, yellow — 

 June — On oaks; Amanus, and northward. 



2. lut, Acaciae, Zucc. 5 -^ ^^ -^j glabrous; branches terete. 

 Leaves nearly opposite, petioled, coriaceous, obovate to obovate-oblong, 

 ol)tuse, .02 to .05 long, entire, tapering at base. Flowers short-pedi- 

 Celled, 3-7 together in axillary clusters, or the upper solitary ; calyx 

 truncate, .003 long; coyoW^ crimson, linear -spathulate, .025 long, 4-5- 

 cleft for three-fourths of its length or more into linear-spathulate. at 

 length revolute lobes, with gibbi at the sinuses; stamens about as long 

 as corolla and style — April to August — On Jujube, Buckthorn, and 

 Acacia trees; around Dead Sea, and in Jordan Valley; Moab; Jleblon; 

 el-'Arabah. 



