CAPRIFOLIACE.E 



887 



apex into three stigmatic lobes. Fruit 1-celled, with thin sweet acidulous or oily flesh, 

 stone (in the North American arborescent species) coriaceous, oval, short-pointed at apex; 

 much flattened, dull reddish brown, slightly pitted. Seed filling the cavity of the stone, 

 concave on the ventral face, bright reddish brown, the thin coat projected into a red nar- 

 row irregular often erose marginal border. 



Viburnum with a hundred species is widely and generally distributed through the tem- 

 perate regions of the northern hemisphere, and occurs on the mountains of central and 

 western South America, on the Antilles, the islands of the Malay~Archipelago, and Mada- 

 gascar. Of the fifteen North American species four are small trees. Many of the species 

 produce beautiful flowers and fruits, and are frequently cultivated as ornaments of parks 

 and gardens. 



Viburnum is the classical name of one of the European species. 



CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ARBORESCENT SPECIES. 



Leaves entire or obscurely crenulate; inflorescence long-stalked; winter-buds elongated, 

 narrow-lanceolate, acuminate, covered with rusty scales. 1. V. nudum (A, C). 



Leaves sharply serrate; inflorescence sessile or short-stalked. 



Petioles wing-margined; inflorescence sessile; winter-buds long-pointed, scurfy pubes- 

 cent. 2. V. Lentago (A, C, F). 

 Petioles usually without margins. 



Petioles nearly glabrous; inflorescence short-stalked; winter-buds short-pointed or ob- 

 tuse, rufous pubescent. 3. V. prunifolium (A, C). 

 Petioles of early leaves and the short-pointed winter-buds rusty tomentose, inflores- 

 cence sessile. 4. V. mfidulum (A, C). 



1. Viburnum nudum L. 



Leaves broad-elliptic to oval or slightly obovate, or in one form narrow-elliptic (var. 

 angustifolium Torr. & Gray), acute, acuminate or abruptly short-pointed or rarely rounded 

 at apex, cuneate or rounded at base, entire or slightly crenulate, covered when they unfold 



Fig. 780 



with rusty scales persistent on the lower side of the midrib and petioles and occasionally on 

 the whole lower surface, thick, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, paler on the 

 lower surface, 4>'-6' long and \\'-% wide, with a prominent midrib, slender veins, and slightly 

 thickened and re volute margins; very variable in the size and shape of the leaves and in the 

 amount of their scurfy covering, those of the southern tree form usually larger than the 

 leaves of more northern shrubs; leaves of the var. angustifolium often not more than 2' long 

 and ' wide; petioles slender, \' in length. Flowers appearing from the first of May at the 



