266 EBENACE^E. (EBONY FAMILY.) 



in thf arik and at the tips of the branches Low pine barrens, Virginia 



(/Vx/<) and southward. Shrub l-4 high. 



3. S. American a, Lam. Leaves oblong, acute at both ends (!' -3' 

 , smooth, or Ixirt/i/ nu/ftrulutt beneath; flowers axillary or in 3-4-Jlir>ri-d 

 .-. (^' long) ; corolla valvate in the bud. (S. ghibrum and S. laeve, Ell.) 



Margin of swamps, Virginia and southward. May. Shrub 4 - 8 high. 



2. II ALGESIA, Ellis. SNOWDROP or SILVER-BELL-TREE. 



Calyx inversely conical, 4-toothed ; the tube 4-ribbed, coherent with the 2-4- 

 ccllcd ovary. Petals 4, united at the base, or oftener to the middle, into an open 

 bell-shaped corolla, convolute or imbricated in the bud. Stamens 8- 16 : fila- 

 ments united into a ring at the base, and usually a little coherent with the base 

 of the corolla : anthers linear f oblong. Ovules 4 in each cell. Fruit Ian. 

 dry, 2-4-winged, within bony and 1 -4-celled. Seeds single in each cell, cylin- 

 drical. Shrubs or small trees, with large and veiny pointed deciduous leaves, 

 and showy white flowers, drooping on slender pedicels, in clusters or short ra- 

 cemes, from axillary buds of the preceding year. Pubescence partly stellate. 

 (Named for S. Hales, author of Vegetable Statics, &c.) 



1. II. tetrilptera, L. Leaves oblong-ovate; fruit 4-winged. Banks 

 of streams, upper part of Virginia, also on the Ohio River at Evansville (Short), 

 and southward. Fruit 1^' long. 



3. SYMPI.OCOS, Jacq. H6PEA, L. SWEET-LEAF. 



Calyx 5-cleft, the tube coherent with the lower part of the 3-celled ovary. 

 Petals 5, imbricated in the bud, lightly united at the base. Stamens very nu- 

 merous, in 5 clusters, one cohering with the base of each petal: filameni 

 der : anthers very short. Fruit drupe-like or dry, mostly 1-cclled and 1-secdrd. 

 Shrubs or small trees ; the leaves commonly turning yellowish in drying, and 

 furnishing a yellow dye. Flowers in axillary clusters or racemes, yellow. 

 (Name <rv/.i7rAoKor, connected, from the union of the stamens. Hopea was dedi- 

 cated to Dr. Hope, of Edinburgh.) 



1. S. tinctoria, L'llcr. (HORSE-SUGAR, &c.) Leaves elongated-ob- 

 long, acute, obscurely toothed, thickish, almost persistent, minutely pubescent 

 and pale beneath (3' -5' long); flowers 6-14, in close and bracted clusters, 

 odorous. Rich ground, Virginia and southward. April. Leaves sweet, 

 greedily eaten by cattle. 



ORDER 66. EBEXACE^E. (EBONY FAMILY.) 



Trees or shrubs, with alternate entire leaves, and polygamous regular flow- 

 ers which have a calyx free from the 3-l2-cellr<l wary : i/' xfamrns 2-4 

 times as nit my ax the lobes of the corolla, often in /mint before limn, their 

 anthers (urntd imrards, arnl the fruit a scrcr(il-cc!/l 1><-ni/. <.>ru-'cs 1 or 2, 

 suspend t'tl from the summit of each cell. Se<-<ls anatrojx. us, mostly single in 

 each cell, large and Hat, with a smooth coriaceous integument; tho embryo 



