ORDER 108. LORANTHACE^E. 621 



S. and Can. An interesting shrub or small tree, 10 to 20f high. Leaves alter- 

 nate, petioled, those of the young shoots ovate-lanceolate, others with 3 large 

 lobes. Fls. greenish-yellow, in clustered racemes at the end of the last year's 

 twigs; drupe blue. Apr. Jn. Every part of the tree has a pleasant fragrance, 

 and a sweetish, aromatic taste, which is strongest in tli3 bark of the root. 



3. BENZO'IN, Nees. SPICE WOOD. (Named for its fragrance? 

 which is compared to that of the resinous substance, benzoin.) Flowers 

 dioecious with 4 involucrate scales ; calyt 5 to 6-parted ; <$ stamens 9, 

 in 3 rows, the inner lobed and gland-bearing at base ; anthers 2-celled ; 



$ stamens 15 to 18, sterile, filiform ; drupe obovoid, on a pedicel not 

 thickened. Trees or shrubs with entire, deciduous Ivs. and small, late- 

 ral clusters of yellow fls. preceding the Ivs. 



1 B. odorifemm Nees. Lvs. olovate-lanceolale, veinless, entire, deciduous; fls. in 

 clustered umbels; buds and pedicels s-mooth. A shrub 6 to 12f high, in moist 

 woods, U. S. and Can. Lvs. cuneiform and acute at base, 2 to 4' long, half as 

 wide, paler beneath. Fls. pedicellate, in small, sessile umbels, 4 or 5 from each 

 bud. Drupes red. May. (Lauras Benzoin, L.) 



2 B. mellisscefolium Nees. Lvs. oblong-lanceolate, abrupt or cordate at base, 

 veiny, pubescent beneath ; fls. in clustered umbels ; buds and pedicels villous. 

 Borders of shallow ponds or exsiccated swamps, S. States. Shrub 2 to 3f high, 

 with running roots and virgate shoots. Lvs. with prominent veins. Fls. about 

 3 from each bud. Drupes red. Feb., March. (Lauras mellisssefolia Walt.) 



4. TETRAN'THERA, Jacq. POND SPICE. (Gr. rt'rpa, four-fold, 

 dvOepfa, flowery ; four flowers in the umbel.) Flowers dicecious, in 

 little stalked umbels, with a 4 or 5-leaved deciduous involucre ; calyx 

 4 or G-parted, deciduous ; $ stamens 9, in 3 rows ; anthers unequally 

 4-celled (2 cells above and 2 below) ; ? stamens 12 to 15 rudiments; 

 .-tigma dilated, 2-lobcd, smooth ; drupe naked. Lvs. deciduous. Fis. 

 yellow, appearing before the Ivs. 



T. geniculata Xecs. Branches divaricate and geniculate ; Ivs. small, oblong and 

 oval, nearly smooth, cuneate at base, mostly obtuse at apex ; umbellets terminal, 

 glabrous, on distinct pedicels. In sandy swamps, borders of lagoons, Va. to Fla. 

 Shrub 8 to 15f high, with branches and branchlets remarkably crooked and strag- 

 gling forming an angle of 90 at every fork. Lvs. 1' to 18" long, 5 to 8" wide. 

 Drupes red. Feb., Mar. (Lauras geniculata Walt.) 



ORDER CVIII. LORANTHACEvE. LORANTHS. 



Shrully plants parasitic on trees, with thick, opposite, exstipulate leaves. Flow- 

 ers mostly declinous, an adherent calyx of 4 to 8 lobes, with stamens of the same 

 number, opposite the calyx lobes. Ovary 1-celled, becoming a fleshy fruit with one 

 albuminous seed. Fig. 37, D. 



Genera 25, species 400, mostly tropical in America and Asia, a few flourishing northward a* 

 r as our latitude. Thev possess the remarkable property of planting themselves on trees and 

 bsisting on their juices. They are slightly astringent. Bird-Iiino U formed in part from the 



PHORODEN'DRON, Nutt. MISTLETOE. (Gr. <wp, a thief, devdpov, 

 a tree ; they live on stolen food.) Dioecious ; calyx 2 to 4 (mostly 3)- 

 lobed, lobes erect ; $ anther sessile on the base of each lobe, 2-celled, 

 the cells divergent ; ? calyx adherent to the ovary ; stigmas sessile ; 

 stamens ; fruit a pulpy berry. Herbage fleshy, yellowish green. Sts. 

 jointed, brittle, woody, firmly engrafted on the limbs of trees, especially 

 Oaks, Elms, Apples, &c. Fls. imbedded in the jointed racbis. 



