196 Daphne (Thymelczacecz) 



26. Family THYMEL^ACE^. (Daphne Fam.) 



Genus Dirca, L. (Leatherwood.) 



Fig. 90. Leatherwood. Moosewood. D. pahistris, L. 



Flowers, light yellow, three or four in a cluster at the 

 sides of the branches, appearing before the leaves. 

 Corolla, wanting. Calyx, tubular, without spreading 

 lobes, its edge wavy or slightly four-toothed. Sta- 

 mens, eight, long and slender, alternating in length. 

 Style, one, it and the stamens exserted. Seed-case, 

 not attached to the calyx, one-celled, one-seeded. 

 April. 



Leaves, three to four inches long, simple, alternate, entire, 

 reverse egg-shape to oval. Apex, pointed or blunt. 

 Base, sometimes slightly heart-shaped. Leaf-stem, 

 short, and covering the leaf-bud at its base. Bark, 

 fibrous, and remarkably tough. 



Fruit, about one half an inch long, oval, pointed, reddish, 

 one-celled, one-seeded ; a berry-like drupe. 



Found, in damp woods from Canada to the Gulf. 



A much branching shrub, two to five feet high, with 

 white wood, with bark that is leather-like in its toughness. 

 " It has so great strength that a man cannot pull apart 

 so much as covers a branch one half or one third of an 

 inch in diameter." Millers and others use it for thongs, 

 and from the pliant branches baskets are made. The 

 Indians used it for cordage. 



