88 DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. 



Levant, and in the south of France. The largest and best berries come from 

 Persia. 



Use. — The berries furnish a yellow dye, which is employed in the dyeing 

 of morocco in Turkey, and in calico printing. It also produces, by the aid of 

 chemicals, the Sap green and the Dutch pink. 



Marts. — 'I'he Persian berries come from Aleppo and Smyrna. Some 

 are also shipped from France and Turkey. These ports sliip to England 

 annually 1,200,000 pounds, but more are used in the countries where they are 

 produced. 



CEANOTHUS, L. (New Jersey Tea. Red Root.) Calyx a semi-globular 

 tube, with 5 segments. Petals clawed, rolled in at the edges, bend- 

 ing down. Stamens with ovate, 2-celled anthers. Styles 3, diverging. 

 Stigmas papillate. Fruit tricoccous. Small shrub, 1 to 3 feet high. 



C. Americanus, L. (New Jersey Tea.) Stem 1 to 

 3 feet high, 1 inch in diameter. Leaf ovate-acumi- 

 nate, serrate, pubescent beneath, alternate, stipulate. 

 Flowers in a thyrse, axillary. 



Geography. — Geographical limits, eastern North 

 America. 



Etymology. — Ceanothus, is derived from Kedvudos^ 

 a name given by Theophrastus to indicate a plant with 

 P^ VC^ spines, from /ceco, prick, split, or cleave. It does not 



\^/3!^^^ ^PP^.'*^ ^^"^11 ^'^ ^^^® American plant, which is without 



^ (<M K » thorns. The specific name explains itself. The com- 



mon name, Red Root, is given on account of the color 

 of the roots, and New Jersey tea is a name given be- 



_ . cause it is said that the leaves were used in New Jersey, 



Ceanothus Americanus , . , . i- ^i ti i .• r . 



(New Jersey Tea). durmg the tnne of the Kevolution, tor tea. 



Use. — The young leaves are collected and dried in 

 the shade, when they are said to furnish a beverage superior in flavor, and 

 resembling the China teas. It has become an article of local commerce in 

 some parts of Pennsylvania.* 



Order XVIII. AMPELIDE^. 



Woody, climbing by tendrils. Calyx small; petals 5; stamens 

 5 ; stigmas sessile and capitate ; filaments distinct, or slightly coher- 

 ing at the base. Ovarium 2-celled; fruit a pulpy berry; seeds 4-5, 

 bony; leaves simple, alternate, stipuled, palmately veined; tendrils 

 opposite the leaves. Trees or shrubs, usually climbing by tendrils. 

 Small number of genera. (The term rme is used widely in America 

 for every climbing or trailing plant.) 



VITIS, L. (Grape Vine.) Petals deciduous, spreading, or attached 

 at the top. Calyx very short, entire, or obscurely 5-toothed. 



* The young leaves of the Rubiis strigosus (common red raspberry) when dried are 

 used for tea, and are said to be far superior to the common grades of the imported article. 



