HAMAMELIDE^. (WITCII-HAZKL FAMILY.) 170 



4. D. filif6rmis, Raf. (Thread-leaved Sindew.) Leaves verif Innrj 

 and Jilifonii, erect, with no distinction between Itlade and stalk ; wedB spindle- 

 shaped ; flowers numerous, purj)le ruse-coh^r {V broad). — Wet sand, near the 

 coast. Mass. to N. J. and Fla. 



Di<>n:ea Mi'sofiMLA, Ellis, the Venits's Flv-thap, — so nested for the ex 

 traordinary irritability of its leaves, closing; quickly at the touch, — is :i native 

 of the sandy savannas of the eastern ])art of N. ( '. It differs in several resiiccts 

 from the character of the order _e;iven above; the stamens bein*,^ 15^ the stvles 

 united into one, and the seeds all at the base of the pod. 



Order 38. HAMAMEL-IDEtK. (Witch-IIazf.i. Family.) 



Shrubs or trees, ic'Uh alternate simple leaves and deciduous stipules , flow- 

 ers in heads or spikes, often polygamous or monoecious ; the calyx cohering 

 with the base of the ovary, lohich consists of 2 pistils united below, and forms 

 a 2-beaked, 2-celled woody capsule, opening at the summU, with a single, bony 

 need in each cell, or several, only one or tico of them ripening. — Petals in- 

 serted on the calyx, narrow, valvate or involute in the bud, or often none 

 .it all. Stamens twice as many as the petals, and half of them stiTllc nn<l 

 changed into scales, or numerous. Seeds anatropous. Phnhryo lar;;e and 

 straight, in scanty albumen ; cotyledons broad and flat. 



* Flowers with a manifest calyx, or calyx and coi-olla, and a single ovule suspeiuled from the 



summit of each cell. 



1. Hamamelis. Petals 4, strap-shaped. Stamens and scales each 4. short. 



2. Fothergilla. Petals none. Stamens about 24, long ; filaments thickened upward. 



* * Flowei-s naked, with barely rudiments of a caljTC and no corolla, crowded uito catkin- 



like heads. Ovules several or many in each cell. 



3. liiqnidambar. Monoecious or polygamous. Stamens very numerous. Capsules con- 



solidated by their bases in a dense head. 



1. HAM A ME LIS, L. Witch Hazel. 



Flowers in little axillary clusters or heads, usually surrounded by a scale-like 

 3-leaved involucre. Calyx 4-part^d, and with 2 or 3 bractlets at its ba.se. Pet- 

 als 4, strap-shaped, long and narrow, spirally involute in the bud. Stamens 8. 

 very short ; the 4 alternate with the petals anther-bearing, the others imperfect 

 and scale-like. Styles 2, short. Capsule opening loculicidally from the top ; 

 the outer coat separating from the inner, which encloses the single hw^v and 

 bony seed in each cell, but soon bur.><ts elastically into two pieces. — Tall slirui)s, 

 with straight-veined leaves, and yellow, perfect or polygamous flowers. (From 

 aytio, at the same time with, and n-qXisy an apple-tree ; a name anciently applied 

 to the Medlar, or some similar tree.) 



1. H. Virgini^na, L. Leaves o])ovate or oval, wavy -toothed, somewhat 

 downy when young; blossoming late in antnmn, when the leaves are falling, 

 and maturing its seeds the next summer. — l)ani]> woods, N. Scotia to Kla., 

 west to E. Minn, and La. 



2. FOTHERGILLA, L- 



Flowers in a terminal catkin-like spike, mostly perfect. Calyx bell shaped, 

 the summit truncate, slightly .")-7-t(K)thed. Petals none. Stamens about 24, 



