310 • THE SUMAC FAMILY. 



Buckley, who made the trees his chief object of study. Very like it looks to 

 the European one which so often we see in cultivation, and for which the 

 French have the pleasing name'of " arbre d perruke." Indeed it does seem 

 as though these trees had put on white wigs when their fruiting pedicels be- 

 come elongated and very feathery. From the orange-yellow wood of our 

 ^species a dye, rich in colour, is extracted. 



THE CYRILLA FAMILY. 



Cyrillacecs. 



Trees or shrubs with simple, alternate, evergreen leaves^ and white, 

 regular, perfect flowers ivhich grow in br acted racemes. 



SOUTHERN LEATHERWOOD. IRONWOOD. 



{Plate XCVIII.) 

 Cyrilla racemiflbra. 



FIo7vers : ^xoW\x\%\\\ long, slender racemes terminal on the twigs of the pre- 

 ceding year, and having scale-like bracts at the bases of their pedicels. Calyx : 

 persistent; deeply cleft into five sharp-pointed sepals. Fetiils : fi\e, spreading, 

 early falling. Stamens: five. Pistil: one with a two-lobed style. Capsule: 

 small: ovoid. Leaves: obovate, oval or oblanceolate, pointed at the apex and 

 tapering at the base into a short petiole; entire; lustrous above, glabrous on both 

 sides, thick, evergreen. A shrub or small tree ten to thirty-five feet high, with 

 silvery grey and smooth branches. 



Although this plant is not common, the people know it well for its bark, 

 which at the base pulverises easily, and is used by them as an application to 

 ulcers and sores. They seek it along the margins of ponds and through low 

 pine forests, where often it grows with the water gums and fetter-bushes, 

 and where in the autumn, when the leaves of the deciduous shrubs have 

 turned to scarlet and orange, its glossy evergreen or long persistent ones 

 appear strikingly beautiful. Two species of Cyrilla are recognised, the other 

 being known as Cyrilla parvifolia, a smaller plant with smaller leaves, 

 shorter racemes and globose capsules. 



