BUCKTHORN FAMILY 



Calyx. White ; tube globular ; border five-lobed ; lobes in- 

 curved. 



Corolla. Petals five, white, hooded, on slender claws, inserted 

 under the disk. 



Stamens. Five ; filaments thread-like. 



Pistil. Ovary immersed in the disk, and joined to it at base, 

 three-lobed ; style short, three-cleft. 



Fruit. Nearly black, three-lobed, dry, splitting into three 

 carpels when ripe. 



The leaves of this plant, according to tradition, were 

 used as a substitute for tea during the tea-less days of 

 the Revolutionary War. There is no tradition, how- 

 ever, that anybody drank the decoction after it ceased 

 to be unpatriotic to drink tea. The red bark of the 

 roots has astringent qualities and has been used me- 

 dicinally ; with a proper mordant it will dye wool a 

 cinnamon color. 



As a flowering bush the Red-root may very properly 

 claim a place on our lawns. In the blooming season 

 every stem is tipped with clusters of delicate white 

 flowers, which, massed as they are, produce a most 

 charming effect. 



Smaller Red-root, Ceanothus ovatus, is a western spe- 

 cies with narrow, oval leaves, and denser panicles of 

 flowers. Found on the prairies and in dry, rocky 

 places. Fruit like that of Ceanothus americanus. 



