598 



STYRACACEAE. 



[VOL. II. 



1844. 



Family 12. STYRACACEAE A. DC. Prodr. 8: 244. 



STORAX FAMILY. 



Trees or shrubs, with alternate exstipulate leaves. Flowers regular, per- 

 fect, or rarely polygamo-dioecious, clustered, sometimes appearing before the 

 leaves. Pubescence mostly stellate. Calyx more or less adnate to the ovary, 

 4-8-toothed, or entire. Corolla gamopetalous or polypetalous, the lobes or 

 petals 4-8. Stamens twice as many as the lobes of the corolla or petals, or 

 more, inserted on its tube or base, arranged in i series, the filaments monadel- 

 phous or 4-5-adelphous; anthers mostly introrse. Disk none. Ovary partly 

 superior, 2-5-celled; ovules solitary or few in each cavity, anatropous; style 

 slender; stigma simple or 2-5-lobed. Fruit a berry or drupe, or often nearly 

 dry, winged in some genera, i -seeded, or 2-5-celled with a seed in each cavity. 

 Endosperm copious, fleshy; embryo usually straight; cotyledons flat. 



About 7 genera and 75 species, mostly tropical, most abundant in South America. 

 Calyx superior, its tube obconic; fruit 2-4- winged. i. Mohrodendron. 



Calyx nearly inferior, its tube campanulate; fruit globose or oblong. 2. Styrax. 



i. MOHRODENDRON Britton, Card. & For. 6: 463. 1893. 

 [HAI.ESIA Ellis; L. Syst. Ed. 10. a: 1044. 1759. Not P. Br. 1756.] 



Small trees or shrubs, more or less stellate-pubescent, with membranous deciduous 

 denticulate or dentate petioled leaves, and large white slender-pedicelled drooping bell- 

 shaped flowers, in lateral fascicles or short racemes, appearing with or before the leaves. 

 Calyx-tube obconic or obpyramidal, 4-5-ribbed, adnate to the ovary, the limb short, 4-toothed, 

 Corolla campanulate, 4-5-cleft or 4~5-parted nearly to the base. Stamens 8-16; filaments 

 flat, more or less monadelphous, slightly adnate to the corolla; anthers oblong. Ovary 2-4- 

 celled; ovules about 4 in each cavity, the lower ascending, the upper pendulous. Fruit dry, 

 oblong, 2-4- winged longitudinally, i-4-celled, tipped with the style and the minute calyx- 

 teeth. [In honor of Chas. Mohr, botanist of the Geological Survey of Alabama.] 



About 3 species, natives of southeastern North America. 



i. Mohrodendron Carolinum(L.) Britton. 

 Silver-bell or Snow-drop Tree. ( Fig. 2833. ) 



ffalesia telraf>tera L. Sp. PI. Ed. 2, 636. 1762. 

 Halesia Carolina L. Syst. Ed. 10, 1044. 1759. 

 Mohrodfndron Carolinum Britton, Card. & For. 6: 



463- 1893- 



A small tree with maximum height of about 45 

 and trunk diameter of about 2O 7 . Leaves oval, 

 ovate or ovate-oblong, denticulate, acuminate at 

 the apex, mostly narrowed at the base, dark green 

 and glabrous above when old, pale green and stel- 

 late-pubescent beneath, 2 / -6 / long, l'-$' wide; 

 flowers in lateral fascicles of 1-5 appearing with 

 the leaves; pedicels filiform, %'-\W long; calyx 

 at flowering time about 2" long; corolla 6"-<)" 

 long; ovary 4-celled; fruit oblong- ellipsoid, 4- 

 winged, i'-i#' long, usually longer than its pedi- 

 cel, several times longer than the persistent style. 



In woods and along streams, Virginia to Illinois, 

 south to Florida and Alabama. Wood soft, light brown ; 

 weight per cubic foot 35 Ibs. Calico-wood. March-April. 



2. STYRAX L. Sp. PI. 444. 1753. 



Shrubs or small trees, with alternate leaves, deciduous in our species, and rather large 

 mostly white drooping flowers, in lateral or terminal fascicles or leafy racemes, appearing 

 before or with the leaves. Calyx persistent, nearly inferior, its tube campanulate, adnate 

 to the lower part of the ovary, its limb minutely 5-toothed. Corolla 5-parted or 5-divided, 

 the segments or petals imbricate, convolute or valvate in the bud. Stamens twice as many 

 as the corolla lobes or petals (rarely fewer); filaments flat, monadelphous below or rarely 

 separate, inserted on the base of the corolla; anthers linear. Ovary nearly superior, mostly 

 3-celled at the base; ovules several in each cavity, ascending; stigma 3-toothed, 3-lobed or 

 capitate. Fruit globose or oblong, nearly dry, coriaceous or crustaceous, commonly only 

 i-seeded, 3-valved at the summit. [Greek name of Storax.] 



About 70 species, natives of America, Asia and southern Europe. Besides the following, 2 

 others occur in the southern and western United States. 



