298 MYRICACE.E. 



Leaves alternate, simple, doubly toothed. Aments unisexual; staminate 

 narrow-cylindric and pendulous; pistillate oblong or ovoid, erect. Bracts 

 of staminate ament peltate, including 5 bractlets and about 3 flowers; 

 perianth regular, 4-lobed. Stamens 2 or 4, opposite the lobes; anther- 

 cells contiguous. Bracts of pistillate ament fleshy, imbricated, including 

 4 bractlets and 2 flowers, cuneate, slightly 4-lobed, in fruit persistent 

 and woody. Nutlets seed-like and flattened. 



1, A. rhombifolia, Nutt. Tree 3050 ft. high; bark of branches 

 dark brown ; leaves ovate to ovate-oblong and obovate, slightly pubes- 

 cent beneath, glabrous above, obtuse or acute, irregularly glandular- 

 denticulate: flowering in midwinter, long before the appearing of the 

 leaves: fruiting aments oblong, 68 lines long: nutlets a line long, very 

 broadly obovate, with a thickened margin. Not common. Some good 

 trees formerly stood upon the site of the Judson Iron works near Shell 

 Mound. Fl. Jan. 



2. A. ru bra, Bong. Bark of branches more or less dotted with 

 white: leaves thick, rusty-pubescent beneath, ovate to elliptic, 2 8 in. 

 long, acute, coarsely and rather obtusely toothed, the teeth crenate- 

 toothed, the margin narrowly revolute: flowers appearing in spring with 

 the leaves: fruiting aments roundish-ovate % 1 in. long: nutlets \% 

 lines long, orbicular or obovoid, surrounded by a narrow thin wing- 

 Very common. Fl. March, April. 



ORDER LXXXIII. MYRICACExE. 



Represented by one species of the genus 



1. GALE, Tourn. Monoecious or dioecious shrubs or trees, with 

 alternate often dotted and fragrant foliage. Flowers in sessile ovoid 

 aments. Perianth none. Stamens several, monadelphous (in ours), 

 axillary to a bract of the ament. Ovary 1-celled, 1-ovuled, with 2 sessile 

 filiform stigmas. Fruit globular, nut-like, rough on the surface by an 

 uneven deposit of wax. 



1. 6. Californica (Cham.). Evergreen tree, sometimes 3040 ft. 

 high, and trunk 12 ft. thick; the branches forming a round bushy or 

 broader and somewhat depressed head: leaves thin-coriaceous, slightly 

 tomentose below, oblanceolate, 24 in. long, acute, attenuate to a short 

 petiole, serrate above the base: aments simple or somewhat compound, 

 androgynous, 35 lines long; the small broadly ovate obtuse bracts 

 more or less lacerately ciliate: fr. 2 lines in diameter; the waxy coat 

 thin, granular-roughened, dull purplish. Common in moist places 

 among the hills. 



