ERICACEAE 293 



CHOLISMA, Raf. (Originally misspelled Xolisiiia, doubt- 

 less because the Greek letter corresponding to Ch looks exactly like 

 our X. See Greene. Torreya 4:173-174. 1904.) 



Cholisma ligustrina (L.) Bvitton. f Aiidronicda ligustriiia, Muhl.) 



A deciduous shrub, blooming in late spring. It varies in size 

 with soil conditions, etc., and some of the dwarf forms have been 

 given varietal names. Sometimes cultivated for ornament. 



Grows in wet woods, edges of swamps, etc. 



2A. Cullman County 



4. Clay County. 



5. Clay County. Lee County (Earle & Underwood). 

 6A. Franklin and Tuscaloosa Counties. 



6B. Autauga County. 



6C (?). Montgomery County (Mohr). 



13. Near Oak, Baldwin County (the dwarf form). 



OXYDENDRUM, DeCandolle. (Only one species.) 



Oxydendrum arboreum (L.) DC. Sourwood. 



A slender tree, in favorable situations becoming a foot in 

 diameter and forty or fifty feet tall, with pointed deciduous leaves 

 and small clustered huckleberry-like flowers in June. The flowers 

 have their mouths pointing downward, but the pods ( like nearly 

 all capsular fruits) are erect, so that the seeds do not all drop as 

 soon as the pods open, but are scattered gradually by the wind. 



Sometimes cultivated for ornament. The wood is heavier 

 than water when green, and hard, close-grained, and susceptible of 

 polish, but there is not enough of it in large dimensions to be of 

 much economic importance. It might possibly be good for shuttles. 

 The young shoots are very straight, and are occasionally used by 

 boys for arrows. The leaves and bark are medicinal, but not offi- 

 cinal. The flowers furnish honey. 



Grows in dry woods, hammocks, bluffs, creek-bottoms, etc., 



and seems to avoid the richest, poorest and wettest soils, and too 



frequent fires. Its distribution corresponds approximately with 



those parts of the state where more than 1% and less than 10% 



of the area was cultivated in cotton in 1880. 



lA. Lauderdale and Colbert Counties. 



IB. Limestone slopes east of Guntersville. 



IC. Colbert County. 



2A. Scattered throughout. 



2B. Frequent. 



