500 CXXVII. SALICACE^E. 



Stig. 2, subulate, or dilated and petaloid. 



Fr. drupaceous or dry. Seed solitary, erect, without albumen. % 



Genera 3, species about 20, found in the temperate parts of North America, in India and South Africa, 

 one species in Europe. Sweet Fern is highly aromatic and astringent. The fruit of the bayberry bush 

 yields wax in abundance. 



Genera. 



$ cuneate-lanceqlate, serrate. Flowers dioecious Myrica. 1 



Leaves { sinuate-pinnatifid. Flowers monoecious Comptonia. 2 



1. MYRICA. 



Gr. //vpo), to flow; because some of the species are native of river banks and inundated places. 



Flowers d* 9 Aments ovate-oblong ; scales loosely imbricate, lunate, 

 c? Stamens 4 6, short, erect; anth. large, 4-valved. 9 Ovary 1, 

 superior; sty. 2, spreading; stig. 2, acute; drupe 1 -celled, 1 -seeded. 

 Stipules very fugacious or 0. 



1. M. GALE. Sweet Gale. Dutch Myrtle. 



Lvs. glabrous, cimeate-lanceolate, obtuse and serrate above, margin very 

 entire and slightly revolute below, tapering to a very short petiole ; sterile aments 

 of ovate, cordate, acuminate, ciliate scales ; fr. in an oblong, dense, amenta- 

 ceous head. A branching shrub, 3 4fhigh, on the inundated borders of ponds 

 and mountain lakes, Northern States and Can. Leaves dark green, paler be- 

 neath with a strong midvein, 9 18" by 4 6", entire | the length, tf and 9 

 aments on separate plants, the former terminal, about 1' in length, the latter 

 axillary and much shorter. Fruit and leaves, when crushed, with a pungent, 

 spicy odor. May. 



2. M. CERIFERA. Bayberry. Wax Myrtle. 



Lvs. glabrous, cuneate-oblong, rather acute or obtuse, distinctly petiolate, 

 margin entire or remotely dentate above, paler and with distinct veinlets be- 

 neath ; aments cotemporary with the leaves, lateral, naked, the $ larger, with 

 lax, roundish scales ; fr. spherical, distinct, clustered, naked, covered with wax. 

 This interesting and useful shrub is found in dry woods or in open fields, 

 Nova Scotia to Flor. W. to Lake Erie. It varies in height from 2 8f, covered 

 with a grayish bark. It has a very branching top, numerous dry-looking leaves 

 1J 2J' by $ I'. The ^ and 9 aments on separate plants, below the leaves, 

 } f long, the former much thicker. The fruit consists of a globular stone en- 

 closing a kernel, and covered with a coating of whitish wax, which, being sepa- 

 rated by boiling water, constitutes the bayberry tallow of commerce. May. 



2. COMPTONIA. 



In honor of Henry Compton, Lord Bishop of London, who made an extensive collection of plants. 



Flowers . cT Ament cylindric ; bract reniform-cordate, acumi- 

 nate ; cal. scale 2-parted ; sta. 3, forked ; anth. 6. 9 Ament ovate ; 

 cal. scales 6, longer than the bract ; sty. 2 ; nut ovoid, 1 -celled. 

 Low shrubs. Lvs. long and narrow, pinnatifid-lobed, with small stipules. 



C. ASPLENIFOLIA. Ait. (Liquidambar, Linn.) Sweet Fern. 



Lvs. long, linear-lanceolate, alternately sinuate-pinnatifid. A well known, 

 handsome, aromatic shrub, 2f high, common in dry woods and hills. The main 

 stem is covered with a rusty, brown bark, which becomes reddish in the branches, 

 and white downy in the young shoots. Leaves numerous, on short peduncles, 

 3 4' by J'i divided nearly to the midvein into numerous, rounded lobes so as 

 to resemble those of the spleenwort. Stipules in pairs, acuminate. Barren 

 flowers in erect, cylindric catkins, terminal and lateral. Fertile flowers in a 

 dense, rounded burr or head, situated below the barren ones. Fruit a small, 

 ovate, brown, 1-celled nut. May. 



ORDER CXXVII. SALICACE^E. WILLOWORTS. 



frees or shrubs, with alternate, simple leaves and deciduous or persistent stipules. 

 Ft*, direcious, amentaceous, achlamydeous, axillary to 1-flowered bracts. 

 Sterile. Sta. 2 several, distinct or monadelphous. Anth. 2-celled. 

 Fertile. Ova. l 2-celled. Ovules numerous, erect. Styles or stigmas 2. 



