Chapter XXXIII. 



From Leatherwoods to Dogwoods. 



The twenty fifth order comprises eleven families that are not 

 represented in Minnesota and five that are. Among the exotic 

 species are the pomegranate, the mangrove, the myrtles and 

 eucalypti, the melostomas, the Brazil-nuts and a number of 

 forms peculiar to South Africa. In Minnesota there are found 

 one species of the leatherwood family, three species of buffalo- 

 berries and silverberries, four species of the loosestrife family, 

 eighteen or twenty evening primroses and about six varieties 

 of water-milfoil. 



Leatherwoods. The leatherwood is a shrub from two to 

 six feet in height, not uncommon along streams in woods and 

 thickets throughout the greater part of the state. It is most 

 abundant from Duluth to Lake of the Woods and is not to 

 be expected in the southwestern portion of the state, although 

 it extends to New Ulm and Blue Earth county. The leather- 

 wood has yellowish-green twigs, with alternate, broadly oval, 

 entire-margined leaves. The flowers are disposed in clusters 

 of three or four, appearing while the leaves are emerging from 

 the bud. The perianth is bell-shaped, with eight stamens borne 

 upon its inner surface and protruding from the mouth. Every 

 alternate stamen of the group is longer, while the intermediate 

 ones are shorter. The fruit is oval in outline, red in color, and 

 about half an inch in length. The bark is poisonous, acting 

 as a violent emetic. This shrub may be known by the yellow- 

 ish color of the flowers and bark, the stamens alternately longer 

 and shorter, and the red stone-fruits. 



Buffalo-berries. The three species of buffalo-berries are sil- 

 very shrubs, particularly abundant in the Red river valley, in one 

 variety extending as far east as the north shore of Lake Supe- 

 rior. They may all be recognized by the curious scurfy growth 



