162 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



t 



Plants shrubs, with smooth bark; leaves entire; staminate flowers with 2-celled 

 anthers; pistillate flowers with 12-15 imperfect stamens and a globoee ovary; fruit 

 bright red , , 2. BENZOIN. 



1. SASSAFRAS Nees. 



1. Sassafras variifolium (Salisb.) Kuntze. Sassafras. 



Very common in woods and along roadsides, springing up in waste places like a 

 weed. Eastern N. Amer. {S. officinale Nees & Eberm.; S. sassafras Karst.) 



A tree, usually of moderate size, with us rarely exceeding 10 meters; aromatic; 

 flowers appearing about the middle of April, before the leaves; leaves vai-iable on the 

 same branch, sometimes entii-e or mitten-shaped instead of 3-lobed, used like bay 

 leaves for flavoring food; bark of root used for making tea and for dyeing, the source 

 of an aromatic oil used in perfumery, and for flavoring sweetmeats and medicines. 

 A few trees are shown in plate 27. 



2. BENZOIN Fabr. 



1. Benzoin aestivale (L.) Nees. Spice bush. 



Common in moist woods and swamps and along streams. Eastern N. Amer. {Lin. 

 dera benzoin Blume; B. benzoin Coulter.) 



A spicy, fragrant bush, 1-4 meters high; flowers appearing in April, before the leaves; 

 fruit ripe in August. Used by the Indians and early settlers as a remedy for fevers 

 and therefore sometimes called fever bush; also wild allspice, froha the use of the 

 berries to take the place of the true allspice of the West Indies. 



64. PAPAVERACEAE. Poppy Family. 



Leaves all basal, glabroue; plants perennial, with tlxick creeping rootstocks; flowers 



white 1. SANGUINARIA. 



Leaves, at least part of them, scattered along the stems, hairy; plants never with 

 creeping rootstocks; flowers yellow or red. 

 Flowers solitary, on very long stalks, red; fruit opening only at the top, less than 



twice as long as thick 2. PAP AVER. 



Flowers in umbels, on short stalks, yellow; fruit opening for its whole length, several 

 times as long as thick 3. CHELIDONITJM. 



1. SANGIHNARIA L. 



1. Sanguinaria canadensis L. Bloodroot. 



Woods; common. March-Apr. Eastern N. Amer. {S. dilleniana Greene.) 



Juice orange-red. The flowers are shown in plate 28 A. 



Argemone mcxicana L., prickly poppy, has been collected a few times in waste 

 ground about Washington. Native of the American tropics; occasionally adventive 

 in the eastern U. S. Leaves spiny, blotched with white. 



2. PAPAVER L. Poppy. 

 1. Papaver dubium L. 



Fields and waste ground; infrequent. May- June. Native of Eur.; adventive in 

 the eastern U. S. 



3. CHELIDONIUM L. 



1. Chelidonium majus L. Celandine. 



Low woods and waste ground along the Potomac; occasional. Apr. -May. Native 

 of Eur.; naturalized in the eastern U. S. 



