286 



EBENACEAE. 



1. Diospyros virginiana L. 



Persimmox. Date-plum. (Fig. 

 306.) A tree; bark hard, dark, 

 furrowed. Leaves ovate or oval, 

 deciduous, pubescent when young, 

 acute or acuminate, dark green 

 above, pale beneath, 2'-5t|' long; 

 petioles loosely jointed with the 

 twigs, the leaves falling away in 

 drying; flowers mostly 4-parted; 

 corolla greenish yellow; stamens 

 of the sterile flowers about 16, 

 those of the pistillate 8 or few^er; 

 fruit globose, about 1' long, red- 

 dish-yellow and sweet when ripe, 

 astringent when green. 



Along the border of Warwick 

 Marsh, 1905, spreading by suckers 

 and well established. Lefroy notes 

 its establishment at Somerville prior 

 to 1877 and that it became a nui- 

 sance at Mt. Langton by sending up 

 suckers. Native of the eastern 

 United States. It is not uncom- 

 monly planted : a tree at Somerville, 

 now destroyed, is said to have 

 reached 75° in height. 



Diospyros kaki L. f., Kaki, Chinese Persimmon, Chinese, occasionally 

 planted, is a tree which becomes 40° high under favorable conditions; it has 

 nearly orbicular to ovate, short-petioled, often subcordate leaves 3'-5' broad, 

 densely pubescent beneath, its fruits 2' in diameter, depressed-globose and 

 yellow, the .persistent calyx-lobes triangular-ovate, about 8" long. 



Diospyros discolor "Willd., Mabolo, of the Philippine Islands, was repre- 

 sented at Pembroke Hall in 1914, by a fine tree about 50° high. It is a nar- 

 row tall tree with somewhat pubescent young twigs; the leathery oblong 

 sharply acute leaves are 8-12' long, 2'-4' wide, the midvein prominent, the 

 lateral veins delicate and obscure, the upper surface bright green and shining, 

 the under side pale and dull; the fragrant flowers are in small clusters, the 

 calyx and white corolla silky; the velvety fruit is globose, about 3' m diameter. 

 Lefroy notes that a plant imported by him did not thrive, but the tree at 

 Pembroke Hall has grown luxuriantly. [D. Mabola Eoxb.] 



Diospyrus Lotus L., Lotus Persimmon, Asiatic, seen in a garden near 

 Flatts in 1914, as a tree about 15° high, attains a height of 40° or more, has 

 thin, sparingly pubescent, elliptic acuminate petioled leaves 2i'-4' long, small 

 reddish flowers about 5" broad, and globose, nearly black fruit 6"-9" in 

 diameter. 



Order 4. GENTIANALES. 

 Herbs, shnibs, vines or trees. Leaves opposite, or rarely alternate. 

 Flowers regular. Corolla gamopetalous, rarely polypetalous, ners'ed, want- 

 ing in Forestiera of the Oleaceae. Stamens mostly borne on the lower part 

 of the corolla when this is present, as many as its lobes or fewer and alter- 

 nate with them. Ovaries 2, distinct, or 1 with 2 cavities (rarely more), or 2 

 placentae. 



a. Stamens (usually 2), fewer than the corolla-lobes, or corolla none. 



Fam. 1. Oleaceae. 

 b. Stamens as many as the corolla-lobes. 

 Stigmas distinct : juice not milky ; ovary 1, compound. 

 Ovarv 2-celled ; leaves stipulate, or their bases con- 

 nected by a stipular line. Fam. 2. Loganiaceae. 



