160 LAURACEiE, Benzoin. 



rather with two short adnate abortive filaments, each of them bearing a gland-hke abortive 

 anther at the summit : fertile anthers oblong, 2-valved ; the valves separating from below, 

 and turning upward. Fertile fl. not examined. Drupe ovoid, scarlet. 



Low moist grounds and borders of rivulets. Fl. April. Fr. September. An aromatic 

 shrub known in some places by the name of Benjamin-hush. It is sometimes employed 

 medicinally as a stimulant. An oil is extracted from the fruit. Dr. Darlington states that a 

 decoction of the young branches is often used as a medicinal drink for horned cattle in the 

 spring of the year. 



Order LXXXVIII. SANTALACE^. R. Br. The Sanders-wood Tribe. 



Calyx-tube adherent to the ovary ; the limb petaloid, 4 - 5-cleft ; valvate in 

 aestivation ; the base lined with a fleshy disk, which is often variously lobed. 

 Stamens as many as the lobes of the calyx and opposite them, inserted on the 

 edge of the disk. Ovary one-celled, with 1—4 ovules : style single. Fruit 

 indehiscent, drupaceous, baccate or nut-like, crowned with the limb of the 

 calyx. Seed albuminous. — Trees, shrubs or sometimes herbs, with alternate 

 leaves and small (rarely dioecious) flowers. 



1. COMANDRA. Nutt. gen. 1. p. 157; Endl. gen. 2076. bastard toad-flax. 



[ From the Greek, kome, hair, and aner, a man (metaphorically a stamen) ; the anthers being connected with the corolla 



by a tufl of hair.] 



Calyx urceolate-campanulate ; the limb 5-cleft, persistent. Stamens 5, or sometimes 4 : 

 anthers adhering by a tuft of hairs on the back, to the lobes of the calyx. Disk 5-lobed, 

 lining the tube of the calyx ; tlie lobes altern-ating with the stamens. Ovary with three 

 suspended ovules : style single : stigina simple. Fruit somewhat drupaceous, dry, one- 

 seeded, crowned with the persistent limb of the calyx. Embryo straight, at the extremity 

 of fleshy albumen. — Perennial smooth herbs, with entire leaves, and small flowers in 

 terminal or axillary umbellate cymes. 



1. CoMANDRA UMBELLATA, Nutt. Bastavd Toud-JlaX. 



Stem branching ; leaves lanceolate-ovate or oblong ; cymes in a leafy terminal panicle ; 

 lobes of the calyx oblong, erect ; style slender. — Nutt. gen. I. p. 157; Richards, app. 

 Frankl.jour. ed. 2. p. 8 ; Hook.Jl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 139. t. 179./. A. Thesium umbellatum, 

 Linn. sp. 1. p. 208; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 177 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 311 ; Bigel.fl. Bost. p. 99 ; Torr. 



