THYMELEACE.E MEZEREUM FAMILY 



LEATHERWOOD. MOOSEWOOD 

 Dirca paltistris. 



Dirca is the name of a fountain of ancient Thebes. Leath- 

 erwood refers to the tough, fibrous bark. 



Much branched, two to six feet high, found mostly in wet, 

 shady places. Ranges from New Brunswick to Virginia and 

 westward to Minnesota and Missouri. Juices acrid, producing 

 nausea. 



Stem. Twigs yellowish green, smooth ; bark of mature stems 

 golden brown ; inner bark tough, fibrous, and of great strength. 



Leaves, Alternate, simple, two to three inches long, one and 

 one-half wide, oval or obovate, wedge-shaped at base, entire, 

 obtuse at apex ; midvein and primary veins depressed above, 

 prominent beneath. They come out of the bud involute, pale 

 yellow green, downy, when full grown are pale yellow and 

 smooth. In autumn they turn a clear yellow. Petioles short ; 

 the bases conceal the buds of the next season. 



Flowers. April, before the leaves. Perfect, light yellow, 

 borne three or four in a cluster, from a bud of three or four dark 

 hairy scales, which form an involucre, from which soon after pro- 

 ceeds a leafy branch. 



Calyx. Corolla like, tubular, funnel-shaped, truncate, the 

 border wavy or obscurely four-toothed. 



Corolla. Wanting. 



Stamens. Eight, in two rows, inserted on the calyx-tube, 

 above the middle, exserted, the alternate ones longer ; filaments 

 very slender ; anthers large, ovoid. 



419 



