308 safotacejE. (sappodilla family.) 



1. DIOSPYROS, L. Date-Plum. Persimmon. 



Calyx 4-6-lol)eil. Corolla 4- G-lolicd, convolute in the bud. Stamens com- 

 monly 16 in the sterile flowers, and 8 in the fertile, in the latter imperfect. 

 Berry larj^e, globular, surrounded at the base by the thickish calyx, 4-8-ccllcd, 

 4 -8-sced'.'d. — Flowers diuiciously poly<^amous, the fertile axillary and solitary, 

 the sterile smaller and often clustered. (Name, Atos, of .love, and nvpni, ijrain.) 



1. D. Virgini^aa, L. (Commo.v Pekslmmox.) Leaves ovate-oblong, 

 smooth or nearly so ; peduncles very short ; caly.x 4-parted ; corolla between 

 bell-shaped and urn-shaped ; styles 4, two-lobed at the apex; ovary 8-cclled. — 

 Woods and old fields, Rhode Island and New York to Illinois, and southward. 

 June. — Ti-ee 20° -60° high, with very hard blackish wood, thickish leaves, a 

 pale yellow corolla, and a plum-like fruit, 1' in diameter, which is exceedingly 

 astringent when green, yellow when ripe, and sweet and edible after exposure 

 to frost. 



Order 60. SAPOTACEJE. (Sappodilla Family.) 



Trees or shrubs, mostly ivilli a m'dkij juice, simple and entire alternate 

 leaves {often rusty-downy beneath), srnall and perfect regular flowers usually 

 in axillary clusters ; the calyx free and persistent ; the fertile stamens com- 

 monly as many as the lobes of the hypogynous short corolla and opposite 

 them, inserted on its tube, along with one or more rows of appendages and 

 scales, or sterile stamens ; anthers turned outwards ; ovary 4-1 '2-celted, with 

 a single anatropous ooule in each cell ; seeds large. — Albumen mostly none ; 

 but the large embryo with thickened cotyledons. Style .single, pointed. — 

 A small, mostly tropical order, producing the Sappodilla or Star-apple, 

 and some other edible fruits, represented in our district only by the genua 



1. BUMELIA, Svvartz. Blmelia. 



Calyx .'5-parteil. Corolla S-clcft, with a pair of internal appendages at each 

 sinus. Fertile stamens 5 : anthers arrow-shaped. Sterile stamens 5, petal-like, 

 alternate with the lobes of the corolla. Ovary 5-celled. Fruit small, resem- 

 bling a cherry, black, centaining a large ovoid and erect seed, with a roundish 

 scar at its base. — Flowers small, white, in fascicles from the axil of the leaves. 

 Branches often spiny. Leaves often fascicled on short si)urs. Wood very hard. 

 (The ancient name of a kind of Ash.) 



1. B. lycioides, G;ertn. (Southern Buckthorn.) Spiny (10° - 25° 

 high); lectves ivnl^/e-oblony varying to ovid-huuxohite, with a tapering base, often 

 acute, reticiilateil, imirly gktbrous (2' -4' long); clusters deitsely mauy-Jhwered ; 

 fruit ovoid. — Moist ground, Illinois, Kentucky, and southward. May, June. 



2. B. Ianugin6sa, Pers. Spiny (10°-40° high); leaves obtong-oliovate or 

 wedye-obocate, rusty-woolly beneath, ohtase (I J' -3' long) ; clusfirs 6-\2-flowered ; 

 fruit globular. (B. lanuginosa & tomentosa, A. pC.) — Woods, Illinois, Gi)po- 

 site St. Louis, and .southward, — a variety with the leaves less woolly and rusty 

 beneath (B. oblongilolia, Natt.), passing towards No. 1. July. 



