PYRULARIA. CXIII. SANTALACE^E. 479 



drupe superior, 1 -seeded. Lvs. deciduous^ lobed. Fls. and Ivs. ex- 

 temporary and from the same bud. 



S. OFFICINALE. (Laurus Sassafras. Linn.} Sassafras. 



Lvs. of two forms, ovate and entire, or 3-lobed and cuneate at base ; fls. 

 in terminal and axillary, corymbose racemes, with linear bracts. Not uncom- 

 mon in N. Eng., very abundant in the forests and barrens of the other states. 

 It varies in height from 10 40f. Leaves alternate, petioled, those of the young 

 shoots ovate-lanceolate, others with 3 large lobes. Flowers greenish-yellow, 

 appearing in May and June, in clustered racemes at the end of the last year's 

 twigs, and after the leaves have expanded. Every part of the tree has a pleas- 

 ant fragrance, and a sweetish, aromatic taste, which is strongest in the bark of 

 the root. These qualities depend upon an essential oil which may be obtained 

 by distillation, and which has been highly valued in medicine. The young 

 shoots are a common ingredient in small beer, imparting to it a grateful flavor. 



ORDER CXIII. SANTALACEJE. SANDALWORTS. 



Trees, shrubs and herbs, with alternate, undivided leaves. 



Fls. small, in spikes, rarely in umbels or solitary. 



Col. tube adherent to the ovary, limb 4 5-cleft, valvate in aestivation. 



Sta. as many as the sepals, inserted at their base and opposite to them. 



Ova. 1-celled, 1 4-ovuled. Style l. Stigma often lobed. 



Fr. hard, dry and drupaceous, 1-seeded, crowned with the persistent calyx. 



Genera 18, species 110, natives of Europe, America, Australasia, &c. The fragrant sandal-wood is the 

 product of Santalum album, &c , of India. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



Herbs. Comandra. 1 

 Shrubs. Pyrularia. 2 

 Trees. Nyssa. 3 



1. COMANDRA. Nutt. 

 Gr. K0)firi, hair, avSpes, stamens ; stamens connected to the petals by a tuft of hairs. 



Calyx somewhat urceolate, tube adherent, limb 4 5-parted ; sta- 

 mens 4 5, opposite the sepals, inserted into the top of the tube ; 

 disk perigynous, 5-lobed, the lobes alternating with the stamens. 

 Fruit drupaceous, 1-seeded, crowned with the limb of the calyx. 

 Very smooth, suffruticose plants of N. America. Ped. axillary and ter- 

 minal. Fls. small, umbellate. 



C. UMBELLATA. Nutt. (Thesium umbellatum. Linn.') Bastard Toad-flax. 

 Erect ; Ivs. oval-lanceolate ; fls. subcorymbed, terminal. If. Plant about a 

 foot high, in rocky woods, U. S. and Brit. Am. Stem slender, striate, general- 

 ly branching at top. Leaves entire, alternate, acutish, 1 1| 7 long, and as 

 wide, tapering to a very short petiole. Flowers small, white, in little umbels 

 of about 3. Each umbel is furnished with a deciduous involucre of about 4 

 small leaflets, the whole constituting a kind of corymb. Each anther is at- 

 tached to its opposite sepal by several hair-like, yellow filaments. June. 



2. PYRULARIA. L. C. Rich. 



Flowers 9 c?. Calyx 5-cleft, subcampanulate ; disk 5-toothed, 

 glandular, half adherent to the ovary ; sty. 1 ; stig. 2 or 3, sub- 

 lenticular ; drupe pyriform, 1-seeded, enclosed in the adhering base of 

 the calyx. Shrubs with the habit of Celaslrus. Lvs. alternate, entire. 

 Roc. terminal. 



P. OLEIFERA. L. C. Rich. (P. pubera. Michx. Hamiltonia. MuM.) Oilnut. 

 Margins of mountain streams, Penn. to Ga. Shrub 4 6f high, hirsute- 

 pubescent. Root foetid. Leaves 23' by 1 !', oblong-ovate, entire, acumi- 

 nate, petiolate, veins prominent beneath. Flowers small, in a terminal raceme, 

 greenish-yellow. Calyx tube short, nearly filled with the glandular disk in the 

 J* flowers, the segments reflexed in the $ . Stamens alternate with the lobes 

 of the disk, opposite to those of the calyx. Drupe globose-depressed. May, 

 41 



