RHAMNACE^E. (BUCKTHORN FAMILY.) 73 



2. BERCHEMIA, Neck. SUPPLE-JACK. 



Calyx 5-cleft, the tube hemispherical. Petals 5, sessile, concave, as long as 

 the calyx. Ovary free, 2-celled, half immersed in the fleshy disk. Styles united. 

 Stigmas 2. Drupe oblong, 2-celled, 2-seeded. Erect or twining shrubs, with 

 alternate pin nately- veined leaves, with minute stipules, and small greenish axil- 

 lary or panicled flowers. 



1. B. VOlubilis, DC. Stem twining; leaves oblong, acute, wavy on the 

 margins, glossy above, the simple veins oblique ; flowers in small terminal pan- 

 icles ; drupe purple. (Zizyphus volubilis, Willd.} Swamps, Florida to North 

 Carolina, and westward. June. 



3. SAGERETIA, Brongn. 



Calyx 5-cleft, the tube hemispherical, the lobes carinate within. Petals obo- 

 vate, shorter than the calyx, concave. Ovary free, 3-celled. Stigmas 3, nearly 

 sessile. Drupe baccate, composed of three even 1 -seeded indehiscent nutlets. 

 Seeds not grooved. Cotyledons flat. Slender trailing shrubs, with opposite 

 branches and leaves, and minute whitish spiked flowers. 



1. S. Michauxii, Brongn. Stem vine-like (6 -18 long), with spine- 

 like spreading branches ; leaves (!' long) nearly sessile, ovate or oblong-ovate, 

 acute, finely serrate, smooth and shining, persistent ; spikes slender, interrupted, 

 mostly panicled ; petals minute ; drupe dark-purple, globose. (Rhamnus minu- 

 tiflorus, Michx. ) Dry sandy soil along the coast, Florida to North Carolina. 

 September. Drupes pleasantly acid. 



4. RHAMNUS, Tourn. BUCKTHORN. 



Calyx 4 - 5-cleft, the tube urceolate, lined with a thin disk. Petals small, ob- 

 ovate, concave, often wanting. Ovary free, 2-4-celled. Styles united below. 

 Stigmas 2-4. Drupe baccate, composed of 2-4 somewhat dehiscent nutlets. 

 Seeds grooved on the back. Raphe dorsal. Cotyledons leafy, revolute. 

 Shrubs, with alternate stipulate finely veined leaves, and small axillary clustered 

 polygamous or dioecious greenish flowers. 



1. R. lanceolatus, Pursh. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, or those of the 

 flowering branches oblong and obtuse, serrulate ; flowers clustered, on short pedi- 

 cels, with long styles, or the more fruitful ones scattered on longer pedicels, and 

 with short styles ; petals emarginate ; drupe 2-seeded. Hills and river-banks, 

 in the upper districts, Alabama and northward. June. A tall shrub. Drupes 

 black, as large as a grain of pepper. 



5. FRANGULA, Tourn. 



Seeds not grooved. Raphe lateral. Leaves strongly parallel- veined. Flow- 

 ers perfect. Otherwise as in Rhamnus. 



1. F. Caroliniana, Gray. (CAROLINA BUCKTHORN.) Leaves oblong, 

 wavy and finely serrulate on the margins, the slender petioles and many-flowered 

 short-stalked umbels pubescent ; petals 5, minute ; stigmas 3 ; drupe globose, 



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