ORDER 117. PLATANACE^E. C39 



2 to 9-ovuled. Fruit fleshy, -with as many 1-seeded nuts. Seed ascending, albu- 

 minous, radicle inferior. 



Genera 3, specie* 4, natives of N. Europe, N. America and the Straits of Magellan. Proper- 

 ties, acidulous. The berries are nutritious. 



GEKERA. 



* Stamens 8. Stigmas 6 to 9-rayed. Berry 6 to 9-seeded EMPETRUM. 1 



* Stamens 3. Stigmas 3 or 4, style slender. Drupe 8 or 4-seeded COBKMA. 2 



* Stamens 2. Stigmas 4. Berry 2-seeded. Shrub erect CKRATIOLA. 8 



1. EM'PETRUM, Tourn. CROWBERRY. (Gr. iv, upon, Trerpof, a stone; 

 from the places of its natural growth.) Flowers $ $ . Perianth con- 

 sisting of 2 series of scales, the 3 inner petaloid; $ Stamens 3, anthers 

 pendulous on long filaments. $ Stigma snhsessile, 6 to 9-rayed ; drupe 

 globular, with 6 to 9 seedlike nutlets. Alpine undershrubs. 



E. nigrum L. Procumbent branches smooth ; Ivs. imbricated, linear-oblong, obtuse 

 at each end, nearly smooth, with a revolute margin. A small, prostrate shrub, 

 found on the granite rocks of the White Mts. of N. H., and the calcareous moun- 

 tains of Vt. The stem is 1 to 3 or 4f long, much branched and closely covered 

 all around with evergreen leaves, which are 2 or 3" long, half a line wide. 

 Flowers very small, reddish, crowded in the axils of the upper Ivs. Berries black, 

 not ill-flavored. May, Jn. 



2. CORE V MA, Don. (Oakesia, Tuckerman.) (Gr. KdpqpME, a broom ; 

 from the resemblance.) Flowers $ $ or $ ? Perianth of 5 or 6 

 bractlets, the 3 inner sepaloid. $ Stamens 3, sometimes 4, with ex- 

 serted filaments. $ Ovary 3 or 4-celled ; style filiform, 3 or 4-cleft, 

 with narrow stigmas; drupe globular, minute, with 3 or 4 nutlets. 

 diffuse undershrubs. Lvs. linear. 



C. Conradii Torr. Diffuse, very slender, glabrous ; Ivs. linear, revolute on tho 

 margin, coriaceous ; fruit dry. Sandy and rocky plains, here and there, from Can. ? 

 Me. to N". J. Sts. If high, with a reddish-ash-colored bark, with short, vertieillate 

 branches. Lvs. evergreen, numerous, spiral or imperfectly verticillate 7 3" long, 

 linear, revolute. Fls. in terminal clusters of 10 to 15, with brownish scales and 

 purple stamens and styles. Plants with are less common than those with <$ 

 or $ . Mar., Apr. 



3. CERATrOLA, MX. SAND-HILL ROSEMARY. (A Latin diminutive, 

 from ffepOf, a horn ; referring to the stigmas.) Flowers 8 . Perianth 

 of 6 to 8 imbricated, concave, fimbriate scales, the two or 4 inner mem- 

 branous. $ Stamens 2, exserted, anthers 2-celled, roundish. ? Ovary 

 2-celled; style short; stigmas 4 or 0, spreading, toothed ; fruit a drupe 

 with 2-seed-like nuts. A shrub with vertieillate branches, crowded, 

 acerous Ivs. and axillary, sessile Us. 



C. ericoides MX. Hills or plains sandy or gravelly, Augusta, Ga. to Apalaclu- 

 cola, Fla. Shrub evergreen, 3 to Gf high. Young branchlets downy. Lvs. in 

 close whorls of 3s and 4s, about 6" long, rigid, acute. Fls. lateral, stigmas pur- 

 ple. Fr. yellowish, small, astringent. Aug., Sept. 



ORDER CXVII. PLATANACE^E. SYCAMORES. 



Trees with a watery juice, alternate palmate leaves and sheathing, scarious sti- 

 pules, flowers monoecious, in globular aments, destitute of both calyx and corolla. 

 Sterik. Stamens single, with only small scales intermixed. Anthers 2-celled, 

 linear. Fertile. Ovary terminated by a thick style with one side stigmatic. Nut 

 clavate, tipped with the persistent, recurved stylo. Seed solitary, albuminous. 

 Fig. 82. 



