^2 TIIYMELEACI-LK. iJirca. 



iniildle of the tube, exserted, tlie altuniate ones shorter. Ovary glahrous : style 

 lihtbrm, nearly terminal, exceeding the stamens : ovule solitary. Drupe oval; naked, 

 reddish. — Much branched shrubs, with short-jointed branehlets ; leaves alternate, 

 deciduous, oval-obovate, on very sliort {tetit)les, the bases covering the buds of the 

 next year; flowers iu axillary clusters of 3 or 1, involucrate with as many densely 

 hairy scales and iireceding the leafy branehlets. Only two species. 



1. D. OCCidentalis, Oray. A diffuse shrub 3 or 4 feet high : leaves obovate to 

 oval, 1 to 2^2 inches long, rounded or cuneate at ])ase, obtuse or acutish, M'itli the 

 branehlets somewhat villous, becoming glabrous : scales of the involucnj white- 

 villous, 3 to 5 lines long : flowers nearly sessihi, 3 or 1 lines long, rather deei)Iy 

 3- -l-lobed, the rounded slightly spreading lobes a linis long : stamens inserted l)elow 

 tlie middle of the tube. — I'roc. Am. Acad. viii. G31. JJ. /ntlu.s(ris^ 'i'orrey, I'acif. 

 \l liep. iv. 133. 



Freiiiient in ravines on the eastern slope of the Oakland Hills, flowering in April ; the mature 

 huit has not been euUecteil. It ditlers fioni />. pdlustris, Linn., of tiie Athmtie region, mainly in 

 the deeper calyx-lobes, lower insertion of the stamens, sessile llowei-s, and whiter involucre. 



OiiuEH LXXXIII. EL^AGNACE^.- 



Shrubs or small trees, without tough bark, the foliage scurfy throughout with 

 scarious silvery or brown scales, with regular flowers mostly dicecious, the perianth 

 herbaceous or colored within, its tube lined with a prominent disk bearing the sta- 

 mens, enclosing tlie 1 -celled ovary, and becoming indj)y or spongy Avithout and 

 bony within ; style terminal ; fruit a membranous akene, closely covered by the 

 drupe-like calyx-tube, and the seed erect, with scanty albumen ; radicle inferior and 

 cotyledons narrower : otherwise neaily as the last order. Flowers solitary or vari- 

 ously clustered in the axils of the branehlets. 



A small order of 4 genera and about 30 species, chiefly of tropical or subtropieal Asia ; only 4 

 species of 2 genera arc North Ameriean. The second genus, Elaaijniis, of the Koiky .Mountains 

 and eastward, is distinguished by having perfect flowers with only 4 stamens. 



1. SHEPHERDIA, Nutt. BriKAro-nKUUY. 



Flowers ditecious. Staminate iierianth 4-parted, the lobes spreading, valvate in 

 the globular bud. Stamens 8, alternate with as many lol)es of a thick disk ; lila- 

 ments free, shorter than the limb. Tistillate flowers with oblong tubular perianth ; 

 limb 4-cleft, erect, and the throat closed by the lobes of the disk. Style i)ersistent ; 

 stigma lateral. Fruit berry-like, with a smooth shining compressed seed. — Leaves 

 opposite, deciduous ; flowers small (the stamiimte larger), shortly pedicellate. Only 

 the folloAving species. 



1. S. argentea, Xutt. A somewhat spiny shrub, f) to 18 feet high : leaves 

 silvery on both sides, mostly ol)long, obtuse, cuneate at base, 1 to \\ inches long : 

 staminate flowers \\ lines long, tlie pistillate 1 line: fruit a smooth ovoid scarlet 

 berry, 2.V lines long, acid and edible, nearly sessile. — Genera, ii. 240. S. elacvj- 

 no'ules, Nutt. in Proc. Acad. Philad. vii. 50. 



East of the Sierra Nevada, from Mono Lake northward to Britisli America and the Saskatche- 

 wan, and in the mount;iiiis soiUh to New Mexico. Flowers forming and sometimes opening in 

 the autumn : fruit ii|>ening in July, often abundant. 



