296 ERICACEAE. (HEATH FAMILY.) 



at or below the apex : anthers oblong, awnless : sutures of the 5-angular pod with 

 a more or less thickened line or ridge, which often falls away separately when tJie 

 pod opens : seeds turned in all directions, oblong, with a thin and rather loose 

 reticulated coat : flowers in umbel-like clusters variously arranged. 



3. A. Mariana, L. (STAGGER-BUSH.) Nearly glabrous ; leaves decid- 

 uous, but rather coriaceous, oval or oblong, veiny ; flowers large and nodding, 

 in clusters from axillary scaly buds, which are crowded on naked branches of 

 the preceding year ; sepals leaf-like, deciduous with the leaves. Sandy low 

 places, Rhode Island to Virginia near the coast, and southward. May, June. 

 Shrub 2 - 4 high : foliage said to poison lambs and calves. 



4. LY6NIA, Nutt. Calyx 5-cleft: corolla globular, pubescent: filaments and 

 anthers destitute of awns or appendages, or the former sometimes 2-setose near the 

 apex : pods prominently ribbed at the sutures, the ribs at length separating or 

 separable : seeds slender, all pendulous, with a loose and thin cellular coat : flow- 

 ers small, mostly in dusters which are racemosed-panided : bracts minute and 

 deciduous : leaves pubescent or scurfy beneath. 



4. A. ligustrina, Muhl. Leaves deciduous, not scurfy, smoothish when 

 old, obovate-oblong varying to oblong-lanceolate ; flowers racemose-panicled on 

 branchlets of the preceding year. Swamps and low thickets, New England 

 to Penn., Virginia, and southward. June, July. Shrub 4 - 10 high. 



11. OXYDIINDBUM, DC. SORREL-TREE. SOUR-WOOD. 



Calyx without bractlets, of 5 almost distinct sepals, valvate in the bud. 

 Corolla ovate, 5-toothed, puberulent. Stamens 10 : anthers fixed near the base, 

 linear, awnless ; the cells tapering upwards, and opening by a long chink. Pod 

 oblong-pyramidal, 5-celled, 5-valved ; the many-seeded placentae at the base of 

 the cells. Seeds all ascending, slender, the thin and loose reticulated coat ex- 

 tended at both ends into awl-shaped appendages. A tree with deciduous, ob- 

 long-lanceolate, pointed, soon smooth, serrulate leaves, on slender petioles, and 

 white flowers in long one-sided racemes clustered in an open panicle, terminat- 

 ing the branches of the season. Bracts and bractlets minute, deciduous. Foli- 

 age sour to the taste (whence the name, from ovs, sour, and 8>5poi>, tree). 



1. O. arbbreum, DC. (Andromeda arborea, L.) Rich woods, from 

 Penn. and Ohio southward, mostly along the Alleghanies. June, July. Tree 

 15 -40 high. Leaves in size and shape like those of the Peach. 



12. CLETHRA, L. WHITE ALDER. SWEET PEPPERBUSH. 



Calyx of 5 sepals, imbricated in the bud. Corolla of 5 distinct obovate-ob- 

 long petals. Stamens 10, often exserted : anthers inversely arrow-shaped, in- 

 verted and reflexed in the bud, opening by terminal pores or short slits. Style 

 slender, 3-cleft at the apex. Pod 3-valved, 3-celled, many-seeded, enclosed in 

 the calyx. Shrubs or trees, with alternate and serrate deciduous leaves, and 

 white flowers in terminal hoary racemes. Bracts deciduous. (KX^pa, the 

 ancient Greek name of the Alder, which this genus somewhat resembles in 

 foliage.) 



