GENUS 4. 



SUMAC FAMILY. 



485 



i. Cotinus americanus Nutt. Wild or 



American Smoke-tree. Chittam-wood. 



Fig. 2784. 



Rhus cotinoides Nutt.; T. & G. Fl. N. A. i : 217. 



As synonym, 1838. 



Cotinus americanus Nutt. Sylva 3: pi. 81. 1849. 

 Cotinus cotinoides Britton, Mem. Torr. Club 5 : 



216. 1894. 



A small widely branched tree, with maxi- 

 mum height of about 40 and trunk diameter 

 of 15'. Leaves oval or slightly obovate, thin, 

 glabrous or sparingly pubescent beneath, 3'-6' 

 long, \\'-2.' wide, obtuse at the apex, nar- 

 rowed and commonly acute or acutish at the 

 base, the blade slightly decurrent on the pe- 

 tiole; flowers i"-iJ" broad, green, borne in 

 loose large terminal panicles, pedicels elongat- 

 ing to i'-ii' and becoming very plumose in 

 fruit; drupe reticulate-veined, 2" long. 



Rocky hills, Missouri and Oklahoma, east to Ten- 

 nessee and Alabama. Wood soft, orange-yellow, 

 yielding a rich dye ; weight per cubic foot 40 Ibs. 

 Very nearly related to the European C Cotinus, 

 which differs in its smaller coriaceous leaves, 

 more pubescent, mostly rounded and obtuse at 

 base. Yellow-wood. April-May. 



1847. 



Family 75. CYRILLACEAE Lindl. Veg. King. 445. 

 CYRILLA FAMILY: 



Glabrous shrubs, or small trees, with simple entire thick alternate exstipulate 

 leaves, long-persistent or evergreen, and small regular perfect bracted racemose 

 flowers. Sepals 4-8 (mostly 5), persistent. Petals the same number as the 

 sepals, hypogynous, distinct, or slightly united by their bases, deciduous. Stamens 

 4-10, in I or 2 series, distinct, hypogynous; anthers introrse, 2-celled, the sacs 

 longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary 2-5-celled ; ovules 1-4 in each cavity, anatropous, 

 pendulous ; style short or none ; stigma very small, or 2-3-lobed. Fruit dry, small, 

 i-5-seeded. Seeds oblong or spindle-shaped; endosperm fleshy; embryo central, 

 cylindric. 



Three genera and about 12 species, natives of America. 



i. CYRILLA Garden; L. Mant. i: 5, 50. 1767. 



Racemes clustered at the ends of twigs of the preceding seaspn. Sepals 5, firm, acute, 

 shorter than the petals. Petals 5, white, acute, spreading. Stamens 5, -opposite the sepals, 

 the filaments subulate, the anthers oval. Ovary ovoid, sessile, mostly 2-celled, sometimes 

 3-celled; ovules 2-4 in each cavity; style short, thick, 2-3 lobed. Fruit ovoid, 2-3-seeded, the 

 pericarp spongy. [In honor of Domenico Cyrillo, professor of medicine at Naples.] 



Three or four species, natives of southeastern North 

 America, the West Indies and northern South Amer- 

 ica, the following the generic type. 



i. Cyrilla racemiflora L. Southern Leather- 

 wood or Iron wood. Fig. 2785. 



Cyrilla racemiflora L. Mant. i : 50. 1867. 



A shrub or small tree, sometimes 35 high and 

 the trunk 15' in diameter, the bark at the base 

 spongy. Leaves oblanceolate, obovate or oval, short - 

 petioled, reticulate-veined and the midvein rather 

 prominent beneath, obtuse or acute ^at the arjex, 

 cuneate-narrowed at the base, 2 r -4' long, 3"-!' 

 wide; racemes narrow, 2'-6' long, bearing the very 

 numerous small white flowers nearly to the base ; 

 pedicels i"-2" long, somewhat longer than the 

 bracts, or shorter; fruit about i" long. 



Along streams and swamps, southern Virginia to 

 Florida and Texas, mostly near the coast. Also in the 

 West Indies and South America. He-huckleberry. 

 Burn-wood bark. White or red titi. May-July. 



