492 263. Ilex. 43. CAPRIFOLIACEJi. Pl.ex.cal 



Woods and hedges ; tree ; May. 



Lower leaves thorny, upper unarmed ; miculania scarlet, 

 crowned with the persisting stigmata. — Wood hard, smooth; 

 bark yields birdlime; berries a great resource for small 

 birds in winter, and are used in colic. 



Fam. IX. 44. LORANTHIDEJS. Loranthece, Richard 



and Jussieu. 

 Calyx 1 -leaved, adherent to the ovary, mostly bracteated ; 

 hractece 2 or 3 ; corolla on the ovary, regular ; petal 1,4 

 or 5-cut ; or 4 or 5, soldered at the base ; stamens 4 or 5 ; 

 opposite to the lobes or petals ; ovao-y many-celled ; style 1 ; 

 sligma 1 ; fruit fleshy or dry; ovule 1, attached to the apex; 

 perisperm fleshy; corculum cylindrical, axile; cotyle- 

 dons 2 ; radicle above, roundish, slightly elevated from the 

 perisperm. — Plant parasitic ; steoti woody ; leaves opposite ; 

 stipules ; fioujers axillary or terminal, solitary or spiked. 



I. 264. VISCUM. Pliny. Misseltoe. 



Monoicous or dioicous. — Calyx scaly, scales prominent, 

 not cut; corolla 4-petaled, petals short, soldered at bot- 

 tom ; anthers 4, sessile, inserted in the middle of the petals ; 

 ovary connate to the edge of the calyx ; stigma I ; berry 

 globose, 1 -seeded. — Plant parasitic, shrubby or under- 

 shrubby ; leaves opposite, thick ; flowers axillary, sessile. 



Viscum alhum. White misseltoe. 



Leaves lanceolate, blunt ; flower-heads axillary, 



Viscum, Rail Syn. 464, I ; Ger. em. 1350. 

 Viscum vulgare, Park. 1392. 

 Viscum album, Lin. S. P. 1451. 

 ' Missel. 



On trees ; shrubby ; May. 



Stem much branched, jointed; leaves pale green, ligulate, 

 coriaceous, many-ribbed ; head few-flowered ; flowers yel- 

 lowish green ; receptacle fleshy ; berry white. — Leaves used 

 against epilepsy and other sjiasmodic diseases, also against 

 the rot in sheep ; bark and berries yield birdlime : propa- 

 gated by rubbing tlie berries on the bark of trees so as to 

 make them adhere. The viscum quercus of the ancient 

 druids, to which many magical properties were attributed,' 

 is supposed by De Candolle not to be this plant, but the 

 loranthus, because he has never found the viscum growiuq- 

 iipon oak, although common in the countries formerly dc- 



