CYRILLACEAE 243 



CLIFTONIA, Banks. (Only one species). 



Cliftonia monophylla (Lam.) Sarg. (C. ligustrina (Willd.) 

 Spreng.j Tyty. 



(Map 20) 



A handsome shrub or small tree, with a maximum diameter 

 of about 8 inches, and a height of about 35 feet, but usually less 

 than half those dimensions. The leaves are glossy and evergreen, 

 and the flowers are white, in small erect clusters (suggesting can- 

 dles on a Christmas tree), appearing in ]\Iarch and April, and fol- 

 lowed by small sharply three-angled fruits in fall. 



Small specimens are sold by nurserymen for ornamental pur- 

 poses. Both Sargent and Alohr state that the wood makes excel- 

 lent fuel, but I never saw any of it cut for that purpose. Prof. 

 Stelle recommends it for shuttles, and in Georgia it used to be 

 used for hames. The flowers are an important source of honey. 



Grows in sour non-alluvial swamps, free from mud. lime and 

 sulphur, in the lower parts of the coastal plain, where the summers 

 are rainy and less than 1% of the area was cultivated in cotton in 

 1880. Often forms dense thickets or "bays." 



12. Covington and Geneva Counties, and perhaps Houston. 



13. Abundant, especially in Mobile and Escambia Counties. 

 15. Near Orange Beach, Bak'.win County. 



AQUIFOLIACEAE. Holly Family. 



Includes four or five genera and about 300 species, trees and 

 shrubs, mostly evergreen, and mostly in Central and Sotith Amer- 

 ica. Some are cultivated for ornament, and some furnish honey, 

 medicine, etc. 



ILEX, L. Holly, etc. 

 Ilex opaca, Ait. (Common, or American) Holly. 



A well-known evergreen tree of medium size, usually a foot 

 or less in diameter ; but on the Tombigbee River in Sumter County 

 I have seen specimens about a foot and a half in diameter and 60 

 feet tall. Blooms in April. 



Often planted for ornament, especially in the South. The 

 branches with red berries are much used locally for wreaths and 

 Christmas decorations, and also shipped north in large quantities. 



