SYMPLOCACEAE. 



307 



SYMPLOCOS. Sweet Leaf. 

 (Family Symplocaceae). 



Shrub or small tree: tardily de- 

 ciduous. Twigs moderate, terete: 

 pith moderate, pale, chambered. 

 Buds sessile, solitary or super- 

 posed, broadly conical, with about 

 4 scales. Leaf -scars alternate, 

 half - round, low, bundle-trace a 

 single crescent-shaped or trans- 

 verse aggregate : stipule-scars lack- 

 ing. Leaves when present oblan- 

 ceolate, cuneately petioled, entire. 

 (Hopea). 



The chambered pith of Symplo- 

 cos, which seems to have escaped 

 the notice of special writers on 

 the pith of trees, is mentioned 

 and photographically illustrated 

 in Hough's Handbook of the 

 Trees of the Northern States and 

 Canada, p. 381. The tree is ever- 

 green in the southern part of its 



range, and holds its foliage until heavy frosts come else- 

 where. It is sometimes called horse sugar because its sweet- 

 ish leaves are eaten by stock after green herbage has gener- 

 erally disappeared in early winter. 



End-bud absent: leaf -scars 2-ranked. S. paniculata. 



End-bud present: leaf-scars more than 2-ranked. 



(1). S. tinctoria. 



