MYRICACEi^ 



Flowers brownish-green, dioecious, anemophilous, appearing before the leaves ; 

 3Iale catkins, l-\ in. long, ovoid, dense, sessile, erect; Stamens 4, free, filaments 

 adnate to base of bracts, anthers red, basifixed, extrorse, scales broad-ovate, 

 concave, eitire, shining; Females J in. long; Ovary ovoid, sessile at base of 

 bract, 1-celled, styles 2, red, filamentous, divaricating ; Fruit an indehiscent 

 nutlet, drupaceous, jV in. long, adnate to persistent fleshy bracteoles, densely 

 sprinkled with golden glands, stone 1 -seeded. 



Leaves alternate, exstipulate, variable, lanceolate or cuneate-oblong, entire or 

 minutely toothed at apex, slightly revolute, obtuse or acute, coriaceous, shortly 

 petiolate, matt green above, paler and often pubescent beneatli, dotted with 

 golden, resinous, aromatic glands, 2-3 ins. long, J-lj in. broad. Autumn tints 

 fawn or purplish-brown. 



A deciduous shrub, 2-4 ft. ; twiggy, sub-erect, resinous, fragrant. 



Native of Britain. Generic name from Gr. Myrike, used by Homer for the 

 Tamarisk. Also called Sweet Gale. 



Class I Dicotyledons 



Division IV^. . . . Incompletce 

 Natural Order . . . Cupuliferce 



Trees or shrubs, with alternate leaves and deciduous stipules ; Floxoers 

 monoecious, bracteate and bracteolate, usually in catkins or small heads ; Males 

 with or without a perianth of 1-5 or more segments or distinct sepals ; Stamens 

 few or several, on a disk, or adnate to bases of sepals, anthers 2-celled ; Females 

 with or without a minutely-toothed perianth adnate to the ovary, which is 

 superior or inferior, and usually 2-3-celled, styles 2 or 3 ; Fruit a nut (glans), 

 1-celled, 1 -seeded, inclosed in a cupular involucre formed of the hardened 

 accrescent bracts and bracteoles (Oak, Beech, Chestnut), or enclosed in large 

 leafy bracts (Hazel and Hornbeam), or a winged samara (Birch), or a nut 

 without wings (Alder). 



149 



