382 LXXX. EBENACEvE. DIOSPYROS. 



8f high. Leaves narrowed at base into a short petiole, uncinately serrate, with 

 prominent, pubescent veins beneath. Flowers white, dioecious," small, in im- 

 perfect umbels or heads, sometimes monoecious. Berries scarlet, in little 

 bunches (apparently verticillate), roundish, 6-celled and 6-seeded, permanent. Jl. 



2. P. AMBIGUUS. Michx. Dubious Winter Berry. 



Lvs. deciduous, oval, entire, acuminate at both ends; parts oftliejls. in 4s, 

 the sterile ones crowded, the fertile solitary. A shrub or small tree, 8 15f 

 high, in wet grounds, Mid. States. B.ark whitish, smooth. Leaves elliptic-oval, 

 mucronate-pointed, petiolate, subpubescent beneath, 1 2' long and half as wide. 

 Flowers polygamous, 4 5-cleft, the fertile ones on long peduncles. June. 



3. P. LJEVIGATUS. Pursh. 



Lvs. deciduous, lanceolate, appressed-serrulate, glabrous on both sides, 

 shining above, minutely pubescent on the veins beneath ; fls. hexamerous, 9 

 axillary, subsessile, ^ scattered,pedicellate. In swamps and marshes, Northern 

 and Western States ! S. to N. J. Shrub 6 91 high, with grayish and warty 

 branches. Leaves 23' by 8 12", acute at each end ; petioles 6 10" long. 

 Flowers mostly solitary, the sterile on pedicels near 1' long, the iertile pedicels 

 scarcely \ as long. Berries large, red. June. 



4. P. LANCEOLATUS. Pursh. 



Lvs. lanceolate, acute at each end, finely and remotely serrulate, glabrous 

 both sides; tf flowers aggregated, triandrous, 9 generally in pairs, peduncu- 

 late, 6 numerous ; berries small, scarlet. Barrens and marshes, Western (fiid- 

 fallj and Southern States ! Shrub 6 8f high. 1 am wholly unacquainted with 

 this species as a western plant, but have specimens collected in N. J. 1 by Dr. 

 Robbins. The leaves are paler beneath, 2 3' (including the petiole 3 6") by 

 | 1 1', veins beneath pubescent, ferruginous. Pedicels of the barren flowers 

 are J' long, of the fertile %' long. June. 



5. P. GLABER. Ink Berry. Evergreen Prinos. 



Lvs. evergreen, coriaceous, cuneate-lanceolate, glabrous, shining, serrate 

 at the end. A beautiful shrub 3 4f high, found in swamps, Mass. ! R. I. ! to 

 N. Y. and Car. Leaves very smooth, leathery, shining, 1 !' by 5 7", broad- 

 est above the middle. Pedicels subsolitary, 1 3-flowered. Flowers white, 

 mostly 6-parted. Berries roundish, black and shining. June, July. 



ORDER LXXX. EBENACEJE. EBONADS. 



Trees or shrubs without milky juice and with a heavy wood. 



Lvs. alternate, exstipulate, coriaceous, entire. Inflorescence axillary. 



Fls. by abortion dioecious, seldom perfect. Col. free, 3 6-cleft, divisions nearly equal, persistent. 



Cor. regular, 3 6-c|eft, often pubescent, imbricate in aestivation. 



Sta. twice or four times as many as the lobes of the corolla, 



Ova. with 3 or more cells. Style with as many divisions. 



Fr. a fleshy, oval or globose berry. 



Genera 9, species 160, mostly natives of the Indies and the tropics, one only being found as for north as 

 New York. 



Properties. Diospyrus is remarkable for the hardness and dark color of the wood. Ebony is the wood 

 of D. Ebenus, Ebenaster, and other species, natives of Africa. The fruit of the species below is eatable 

 when fully ripe, although extremely bitter and astringent before maturity. The bark is eminently febri- 

 fugal and astringent. 



DIOSPYROS. 



Gr. Atos nvpos, the fruit of Jove ; the fruit, although excellent, hardly merits the name. 



Fls. c? 9. Cal. 4 6-lobed; cor. tubular or campanulate, 4 6- 

 cleft, convolute in aestivation. cT sta. 8 50, mostly 16 ; fil. shorter 

 than the anthers ; ova. abortive ; sty. 0. 9 sta. mostly 8, without 

 anthers; sty. 2 4-cleft; berry ovoid or globose, 4 12, mostly 8- 

 celled, cells 1 -seeded. A large genus of shrubs or trees : mostly tropical. 



D. VIRGINIANA. Persimmon Tree. 



Lvs. elliptic, abruptly acuminate, entire, smooth, petiole, veins and mar- 

 gin puberulent ; rac. axillary, 3 1 -flowered, pedicels shorter than the flowers ; 

 cat. 4-parted ; sta. 8. In woods, lat. 42 to La., frequent. A shrub or small 



