THYMELiEACE.*:. (MEZEREUM FAMILY.) 709 



1. ». olaeoicles, Schreb. Fig. 3Ji7. 

 5 'UcUl-Khall. .3 to .4, much- 

 branched, naked below, leafy 

 above. Leaves pale gi'een, obovatc 

 to oblong-elliptical, .03 to .0'<i 

 long, usually mucronulate, ap- 

 pressed - hairy to glabrescent at 

 upper surface, appressed-pubes- 

 cent at lower. Flowers termin- 

 al, clustered, sessile, hractless ; 

 perigonium .01 long, appressed- 

 silky without, lobes yellotcish 

 within, triangular-ovate to lanceo- 

 late, fro7n li(Of as long as to longer 



than tube; berry dry — April to invuiucral leaves and iiead oi 



September — Subalpiue and alpine i^'^P'»n« oltcoides. - 



Lebanon, Antileljanon, Hermon, Amanus, and northward. 



2. D. sericca, Vahl. 5 (Turcice Taicuh-CMchehi. Tefnel.) 

 .3 to 1 or more, much-branched, naked below, leafy above. Leaves 

 olive-green above, elliptical, .03 to .05 long, tapering at base, or sub- 

 spathulate, glossy, glabrous at upper surface, appressed-silky at lower, 

 margin revokite.' Flowers sessile, in terminal heads, and clustered in 

 upper axils; bracts scale-lU'e, villous, much shorter than perigonima ; 

 perigonium densely silky without, .015 long, lobes ovate, obtuse, pinh, 

 about a third as long as tube ; berry red — March and April — Wooded 

 zones of Cassius and Amanus from coast to 1000 m. ; Lattakia. 



3. D. liiicarifolia. Hart. ^Ito 3, branching; twigs slender, 

 reddish, glabrous, leafy. Leaves Linear, acuminate, .03 to .05 long, 

 .003 broad, glabrous, sessile. Flowers 10-15 in terminal, capitate 

 clusters, subsessile, .004 long; short pedicels scabridulous-hispid ; 

 perigonium densely villous, iKile yellow, lobes lanceolate, mucrouate, 

 one-half to one-third as long as tube; berry reddish-brown —Autumn 

 — Petra, and at base of Jebel Harun, 800 to 1000 m. 



2. THYMELJEA, Tourn. Thymel^a. Metndn. 



Flowers perfect or polygamous-dioecious. Perigonium funnel- 

 shaped, deciduous or persistent, tube continuous, limb 4-cleft, throat 

 destitute of scale. Stamens 8, inserted in two rows at apex of tube, 

 filaments very short. Style lateral, stigmas capitate. Nutlet included 

 in perigonium, or naked. Albumen 0-— Shrubs with small, yellow 

 llowers, and (ours) minute, lleshy, imbricated leaves. 



T. ]iir§lita, L. 5 Metndn. 1 or more, fastigiate-branched ; 

 twigs nodding. Leaves ovate to oblong, .003 long, convex at upper 

 surface, concave at lower, glabrescent. Flowers 5-10 in a cluster at or 

 near tip of twigs, bractless, polygamous-dioecious; perigonium silky 

 without, glabrous within, lobes "somewhat shorter than tube; fruit 

 ovate, glabrous — Spring — Sands ; coast; Carmel: southern deserts; 

 Dead Sea. 



3. LYGIA, Fasan. Lygia. 



Flowers perfect or mona3cious. Perigonium urn-shaped or funnel- 

 shaped, persistent, with a continuous tube, a 4-cleft limb, and throat 



