586 



LEITNERIACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



i. Comptonia peregrina (L.) Coulter. Sweet Fern. Fern-gale. Fig. 1438. 



Liquidambar peregrina L. Sp. PL 999. 1753. 

 Myrica asplenifolia L. Sp. PL 1024. 1753. 

 Liquidambar asplenifolia L. Sp. PL Ed. 2, 1418. 1763. 

 C. asplenifolia Gaertn. Fr. & Sem. 2 : 58. 1791. 

 C. peregrina Coulter, Mem. Torr. Club 5 : 127. 1894. 



A shrub, i-3 tall, the branches erect or spread- 

 ing. Leaves linear-oblong or linear-lanceolate in 

 outline, short-petioled, obtuse or subacute at the 

 apex, deeply pinnatifid into numerous oblique rounded 

 entire or sparingly dentate lobes, 3'-6' long, i'-i' 

 wide, fragrant when crushed, the sinuses very nar- 

 row; stipules semi-cordate, mostly deciduous; stami- 

 nate aments clustered at the ends of the branches, 

 i' or less long, their bracts reniform, acute; pistillate 

 aments bur-like in fruit, the subulate bractlets longer 

 than the light brown, shining, striate, obtuse nut. 



In dry soil, especially on hill-sides. Nova Scotia to 

 Saskatchewan, south to North Carolina, Indiana and 

 Michigan. Ascends to 2000 ft. in Virginia. Meadow- or 

 shrubby-fern. Sweet-bush or -ferry. Fern- or spleen- 

 wort-bush. Canada sweet-gale. April-May. 



Family 4. LEITNERIACEAE Drude, Phanerog. 407. 1879. 



CORK- WOOD FAMILY. 



Dioecious shrubs or small trees, with large entire petioled alternate exstipulate 

 ('or sometimes stipulate?) leaves, and flowers of both sexes in aments formed at 

 the end of the season, which expand before the leaves. Staminate flowers with 

 no perianth; stamens 3-12, inserted on the receptacle; filaments short, distinct; 

 anthers oblong, erect, 2-celled, the sacs longitudinally dehiscent. Pistillate flowers 

 with a solitary i -celled ovary, subtended by 3 or 4 minute glandular-lacerate bract- 

 lets ; style terminal, simple, grooved and flattened, slender, recurved and stigmatic 

 above, caducous ; ovule solitary, laterally affixed to the ovary wall, amphitropous. 

 Fruit an oblong drupe with thin exocarp and hard endocarp. Testa thin. Endo- 

 sperm thin, fleshy. Cotyledons flat, cordate at the base ; radicle short, superior. 



A family related morphologically to the Myricaceae, but its anatomical characteristics point to 

 affinity with Liquidambar and Platanns. It comprises only the following monotypic genus. 



i. LEITNERIA Chapm. Fl. S. States, 427. 1860. 



Characters of the family. [In honor of Dr. E. F. Leitner, a German naturalist, killed in 

 Florida during the Seminole war.] 



i. Leitneria floridana Chapm. Leitneria. 



Cork-wood. Fig. 1439. 

 Leitneria floridana Chapm. Fl. S. States, 428. 1860. 



A shrub or small tree, attaining a maximum height 

 of about 20 and a trunk diameter of 5', the bark 

 gray and rather smooth, the young twigs, leaves and 

 aments densely pubescent. Leaves oblong or elliptic- 

 lanceolate, acute, obtuse or cuspidate at the apex, 

 narrowed at the base, bright green, firm, 3'-6' long, 

 i '-3' wide, when mature, glabrous or nearly so above, 

 finely pubescent, at least on the veins, and rugose- 

 reticulated beneath; petioles 9"-is" long; staminate 

 aments many-flowered, ascending, i'-2' long, their 

 bracts triangular-ovate, acute, tomentose ; pistillate 

 aments shorter, few-flowered; drupe slightly com- 

 pressed, about 10" long, 3"-4" thick, rugose-reticu- 

 lated. 



In swamps, southern Missouri to Texas, and in Florida. 

 Propagates by suckers. Wood lighter than cork and 

 probably the lightest wood known, weighting only about 

 I2J/2 Ibs. per cubic foot. March. 



