LAURACE^. 193 



lanoe-pointed, each bearing 2-3 long bristles on each side, 

 .and a large grain on the back. — Sea-shore, Atl. Prov. 



* * Herbage sour ; leaves halberd-sJiaped. 

 8. R, AeetOSel'la, L. i^Field or Sheep Sokbbl.) Stem 

 6-12 inches high, flowers dioecious, in a, terminal naked 

 panicle. — A very common weed in poor soil. 



3. FAGOPVRCM, Tonrn. BnCKWHEAT. 



1. F. eseulen'tum, Maench. (Buckwheat.) Old fields 

 and copses, remaining after cultivation. Aohene smooth 

 and shining. 



2. F. TaPtar'ieum, Gtertn., has very small flowers, and 

 a dull roughish achene. — Escaped from otiltivation in a few 

 places. 



Order LXXIX. LAURA'CEjE. (Laurel Family.) 



Trees or shrubs with spicy-aromatic bark and leaves, the 

 latter simple (often lobed), alternate and marked with small 

 transparent dots (visible under a lens). Sepals 6, petal-like. 

 Flowers dicBoious or polygamo-dioecious. Stamens in sterile 

 flowers 9> inserted at the base of the calyx. Anthers open- 

 ing by uplifting valves. Ovary in fertile flowers free from 

 the calyx, l-oelled, with a single ovule hanging from the top 

 of the cell. Style and stigma 1. Fruit a 1-seeded drupe. 



1. SAS'SAFRAS, Nees. Sassafras. 



S. OiQcina'le, Nees. A small or moderate-sized tree with 

 yellowish or greenish-yellow twigs and ovate or 8-lobed 

 entire leaves. Flowers greenish-yellow, in naked corymbs, 

 appearing with the leaves in the axils of the latter. Drupe 

 blue, on a. reddish pedicel. The 9 stamens in S rows, the 3 

 inner each with a pair of yellow glands at the base of the 

 filament. Anthers 4-celled, 4-valved. — !Rich woods, in south- 

 ern and western Ontario. 



2. JHX'DEKA, Thunberg. Wild Allspice. Feveb-bush. 



L. Benzo'in, Meisner. (Spice-bush.) A nearly smooth 

 shrub with oblong-obovate leaves, pale beneath. Flowers 



