ORDER 108. LORANTHACE^E. 621 



S. and Can. An interesting shrub or small tree, 10 to 20f high. Leaves alter- 

 nate, petioled, those of the young shoots ovate-lanceolate, others with 3 large 

 lobes. Fls. greenish-yellow, in clustered racemes at the end of the last year's 

 twigs ; drupe blue. Apr. Jn. Every part of the tree has a pleasant fragrance, 

 and a sweetish; aromatic taste, which is strongest in the bark of the root. 



3. BENZO V IN, Necs. SPICE WOOD. (Named for its fragrance? 

 which is compared to that of the resinous substance, benzoin.) Flowers 

 dioecious with 4 involucrate scales ; calyx 5 to 6-parted ; $ stamens 9, 

 in 3 rows, the inner lobed and gland-bearing at base ; anthers 2-celled ; 



$ stamens 15 to 18, sterile, filiform ; drupe obovoid, on a pedicel not 

 thickened. Trees or shrubs with entire, deciduous Ivs. and small, late- 

 ral clusters of yellow fls. preceding the Ivs. 



1 B. odorifenun Xees. Lvs. obovate-lanceolate, veinless, entire, deciduous; fls. in 

 clustered umbels; buds and pedicels smooth. A shrub 6 to 12f high, in moist 

 woods, U. S. and Can. Lva cuneiform and acute at base, 2 to 4' long, half as 

 wide, paler beneath, Fls. pedicellate, in small, sessile umbels, 4 or 5 from each 

 bud. Drupes red. May. (Lauras Benzoin, L.) 



2 B. mellissaefolium Xees. Lvs. oblong-lanceolate, abrupt or cordate at base, 

 'veiny, pubescent beneath ; fls. in clustered umbels ; buds and pedicels vittotis. 

 Borders of shallow ponds or exsiccated swamps, S. States. Shrub 2 to 3f high, 

 with running roots and virgate shoots. Lvs. with prominent veins. Fls. about 

 3 from each bud. Drupes red. Feb., March. (Laurus mellissasfolia Wait) 



4. TETRARTHERA, Jacq. POND SPICE. (Gr. re-pa, four- fold, 

 dvOepos, flowery; four flowers in the umbel.) Flowers dioacious, in 

 little stalked umbels, with a 4 or o-leaved deciduous involucre ; calyx 

 4 or G-parted, deciduous ; $ stamens 9, in 3 rows ; anthers unequally 

 4-celled (2 cells above and 2 below) ; $ stamens 12 to 15 rudiments ; 

 stigma diluted, 2-lobed, smooth ; drupe naked. Lvs. deciduous. Fls. 

 yellow, appearing before the Ivs. 



T. geniculata Nees. Branches divaricate and geniculate; Ivs. small, oblong and 

 oval, nearly smooth, cuneate at base, mostly obtuse at apex ; umbellets terminal, 

 glabrous, on distinct pedicels. In sandy swamps, borders of lagoons, Va. to Fla. 

 Shrub 8 to 15f high, with branches and branchlets remarkably crooked and strag- 

 gling forming an angle of 90 at every fork. Lvs. 1' to 18" long, 5 to 8'' wide. 

 Drupes red. Feb., Mar. (Laurus geniculata Walt) 



ORDER CVIIL LORAOTHACE^E. LORANTHS. 



Shrubby plants parasitic on trees, with thick, opposite, exstipulate leaves. Flow- 

 ers mostly declinous, an adherent calyx of 4 to 8 lobes, with stamens of the sam 

 number, opposite the calyx lobes. Ovary 1-celled, .becoming a fleshy fruit with ono 

 albuminous seed. Fig. 37, D. 



Genera 25, species 400, mostly tropical in America and Asia, a. fe\v flourishing northward a* 

 far as our latitude. They possess the remarkable property of planting themselves on trees and 

 subsisting on their juices. They are slightly astringent "Bird-lime is formed ia part from the 

 viscid pulp of the fruit of the Mistletoe. 



PHORODEN'DRON, Nutt MISTLETOE. (Gr. <wp, a thief, 

 a tree ; they live on stolen food.) Dioecious ; calyx 2 to 4 (mostly 3)- 

 lobed, lobes erect } $ anther sessile on the base of each lobe, 2-celled, 

 the cells divergent ; $ calyx adherent to the <}vary ; stigmas sessile ; 

 stamens ; fruit a pulpy berry. Herbage fleshy, yellowish green. Sts. 

 jointed, brittle, woody, firmly engrafted on the limbs of trees, 

 <0aks, Elms, Apples, etc, Fls., imbedded in the jointed rachis. 



