CORNACE^. (dogwood FAMILY.) 215 



on both sides, ivhitish underneath ; cymes small and Hat, rather few-flowered, 

 smooth; //•«/< irhite or lead-color. — Wet places; common, especially north- 

 ward. Multiplies freely by prostrate or subterranean suckers, and f'.nns broad 

 clumps, !i-<j° high. June. 



7. C. Stricta, Lam. (Stiff Cornel.) A shrub 8- 15° high ; branches 

 brownisli or re<Mish, smooth; leaves ovate or oratt-Umceolate, taper-pointed, 

 acutish at base, glabrous, of ncarli/ the same hue both sides ; ci/mes loose, jiattish ; 

 anthers and fruit pale blue. — Swamps, Va. to Ga. and Fla. April, May. 



8. C. panicul^ta, L'ller. (Paxicled Cornel.) Shrub 4-8° high, 

 much branched; branches (jrai/, smooth ; leaves ora^e-Za/jcfo/a/r, taper-pointed, 

 acute at base, ivhitish beneath but not downy; cipnes convex, loose, often pani- 

 cled; fruit ?/7//^p, depressed-globose. — Thickets and river-banks. June. 



9. C. alternifdlia, L. f. Shrub or tree 8-25° high; branches greenish 

 .ttrea/ced with white, the alternate leaves clustered at the ends, ovate or oval, long- 

 pointed, acute at base, whitish and minutely pubescent beneath ; cymes very 

 broad and o-pen; fruit deep blue on reddish stalks. — Hillsides iu copses, N. 

 Brunswick to Minn., south to Ga. and Ala. May, June. 



2. NYSSA, L. Tupelo. Pepperidge. Sour-Gum Tree. 



Flowers diceciously polygamous, clustered or rarely solitary at the summit 

 of axillary peduncles. Stain. Fl. numerous in a simple or compound dense 

 cluster of fascicles. Calyx small, 5-parted. Petals as in fertile flower or none. 

 Stamens 5- 12, oftener 10, inserted on the outside of a convex disk; filaments 

 slender ; anthers short. No pistil. Pist. Fl. solitary, or 2 - 8, sessile in a bracted 

 cluster, much larger than the staminate flowers. Calyx with a very short re- 

 pand-truncate or minutely 5-toothed limb. Petals very small and fle.^hy, decidu- 

 ous, or often wanting. Stamens 5-10, with perfect or imperfect anthers. Style 

 elongated, revolute, stigmatic down one side. Ovary 1 -colled. Drupe ovoid 

 or oblong, with a bony and grooved or striate 1 -celled and 1 -seeded stone. — 

 Trees with entire or sometimes angulate-toothed leaves, which arc alternate, 

 but mostly crowded at the ends of the branchlets,and greenish flowers appear- 

 ing with the leaves. (The name of a Nymj)h : " so called because it [the 

 original species] grows in the water.") 



1. N. sylvatica, Marsh. (Tupelo. Pepperidge. Black or Sour 

 Gum.) Middle-sized tree, with horizontal branches ; leaves oval or obovate, 

 commonly acuminate, glabrous or villous-pubescent when young, at least on 

 the margins and midrib, sliining al)ove when old (2-5' long); fertile f oners 

 3-8, at the summit of a slender peduncle; fruit ovoid, acid, blui.'ih-blach (about 

 Y long). (N. miiltiflora, Wang.) — Rich soil, either moist or nearly dry, 

 S. Maine and N. Vt. to Mich., south to Fla. and Tex. April, May. Leaves 

 turning bright crimson in autumn. Wood firm, close-grained and very un- 

 wedgeablc, on acconnt of the oblique direction and cro.ssing of its fibres. 



2. N. uniflora, Wang. (Large Tipelo.) A large tree; leaves ob- 

 long or ovate, sometimes slightly cordate at base, long-petioled, entire or an- 

 gulate-toothed, pale and downy-pubescent beneath, at le;ust when yt)ung (4-12' 

 Ions;) ; fertile fower solitari/ on a slemler peduncle ; />»//< obUmtj, blue (!' or 

 more in length). — Deep swamps, S. Va. to S. 111. and Mo., south to Fla. and 

 Tex. April. Wood soft ; that of the roots very light and spongy. 



