1194 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUAI. PAUT 111. 



* 4. B, LANUGINO V SA Pursh. The woolly-leaved Buinelia. 



Indentification. Pursh FL Amer. Sept., 1. p. 155. : Don's Mill., 4. p. 80. 



Synont/mes. Sideroxylon lanuginosuraj Michx. Fl. Bar. Amer., 1. p. 123.; S. tenax Walt. PL Car. 

 p. 100. 



Spec. Char., 8fc. Rather spinose. Branchlets spreading, downy. Leaves oval-lanceolate, glabrous 

 above, and woolly beneath, but not silky. Flowers in axillary fascicles; very nearly allied to B. 

 tdnax, but differs in the leaves being woolly beneath, not silky, often obtuse. (Dan's Mill., iv. p. 30.) 

 A small tree, a native of Carolina and Georgia, in humid situations among bushes It was intro- 

 duced in 1806 ; but we have not seen the plant. 



5. B. OBLONGIFO^LIA Nutt. The oblong-Jeaved Buinelia. 



Identification. Nutt. Gen. Amer., 1. p. 135. ; Don's Mill., 4. p. 30. 



Spec. Char., $c. Spiny. Leaves smooth, oblong, obtuse, deciduous. Flowers conglomerate, nearly 

 sessile, very numerous. Scales, or sterile filaments, trifid. Tree, with numerous twisted branches. 

 Calycine segments ovate, concave. Drupe purple. Wood fetid. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 30.) A tree, a 

 native of North America, on the Mississippi, near the lead mines of St. Louis : it is also abundant 

 as far down the river as Natches, where it grows to the height of 18 ft. or 20ft ; flowers in July 

 and August. It was introduced in 1818 ; but we have not seen the plant. 



B. salicifblia Swz., Sideroxylon salicifolia Lam., /i'chras salicifblia L., is a native of Jamaica 

 and St Domingo; but there is a tree against a wall in the open air in the Botanic Garden at Kew, 

 which appears to be a .ffumfclia, which Mr. Smith, the botanical foreman there, thinks may be of this 

 species. It is at once distinguished from B. fycioldes, which stands beside it, by its much larger, 

 pale green, and willow-like leaves. 



CHAP. LXXIV. 



OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER BENA V CE.&. 



GENUS I. 



$1 



-DIOSPY V ROS L. THE DATE PLUM. Lin, Syst. Polygamia Dioe'cia. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 1161.; Juss. Gen., 156.; Gsertn. Fruct, 2. p. 478. t. 179.; Lindl. 



Nat. Syst. Hot, 2d edit., p. 227. ; Pr. Br. Prod., p. 525. ; Don's Mill., 4. p. 38. 

 Synonymes. JS'benus Comm. ; Guaiacana Tourn., 371. ; Plaqueminier, Fr. ; Dattelpflaume, Ger. 

 Derivation. Diospuros (dios, divine, and puros, wheat,) was a name given by the ancients to the 



common gromwell (Z,ithosprmum officinle). Its application to the date plum probably arose from 



confounding the Greek puros, wheat, with the Latin pyrus, a pear tree, to the fruit of which the 



date plum may have been thought to bear some resemblance. 



Gen. Char., fyc. Flowers polygamous. Calyx deeply 4-cleft, sometimes 3- or 6- 

 cleft. Corolla urceolate, 4-cleft ; sometimes 3- or 6-cleft. Male flowers having 

 the stamens inserted by pairs into the base of the corolla, twice the number of 

 its segments, with double or twin filaments, and the rudiment of a pistil. 

 Hermaphrodite flowers having fewer and sterile stamens. Ovarium 8 12- 

 celled ; cells 1-seeded. Berry globose, with a spreading calyx which is at 

 length reflexed. Albumen horny. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 38.) Deciduous low 

 trees, with white or pale yellow flowers. Natives of Europe, the north of 

 Africa, Western Asia, the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and North 

 America. The hardy species in cultivation in British gardens belong to 

 the Levant and North America. 



2 1. D. O V TUS L. The European Lotos, or common Date Plum. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 1510. ; Willd. Sp., 4. p. 407. : Ger. Emac., 1495. f. 1.; Park. Theatr., 1523. 



f. 3. ; Don's Mill., 4. p. 38. 

 Synonymes. Pseudolbtus Matth. ; Guaiacdna patavlna Tourn. ; Italian Lignum Vkffi, Wood of 



Life, Pockwood, Bastard Menynwood, Gerard; Date of Trebisonde ; Plaqueminier, faux Lotier, 



Fr. ; Italianische Dattelpflaume, Ger. 

 Engravings. Mill. Icon., t. 116. ; Pall. FI. Ross., 1. p. 20. t. 58. ; Wangh. Amer., 84. t. 28. f. 68. ; 



and the plates in our last Volume. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves oblong, acuminate, downy beneath ; leaf buds hairy 

 inside. Flowers small, reddish white. Fruit size of a cherry, yellow when 

 ripe, sweet with astringency : it is recommended as a cure for diarrluEa. 

 (Dons Mill., iv. p. 38.) A tree, a native of the southern parts of Caucasus, 



