Genus i8. 



HEATH FAMILY 



691 



2. Neopieris mariana (L.) Britton. 

 Stagger-bush. Fig. 3244. 



Andromeda mariana L. Sp. PI. 393. 1753. 

 Pieris mariana Benth. & Hook. Gen. PI. 2: 588. 

 1876. 



A shrub, l°-4° high, the branches nearly 

 erect, slender, glabrous or nearly so, black- 

 dotted. Leaves rather thin, tardily decidu- 

 ous, oval or oblong, glabrous above, sparingly 

 pubescent on th« veins and black-dotted 

 beneath, acute or obtuse, narrowed or some- 

 times obtuse at the base, entire, 2'-^' long, the 

 margins slightly revolute; flowers nodding in 

 lateral umbels on the nearly leafless branches 

 of the preceding season, forming an elongated 

 compound inflorescence; calyx-segments lan- 

 ceolate, acuminate, almost foHaceous, decidu- 

 ous ; corolla ovoid-cylindric, white, or faintly 

 pink, 5"-6" long; filaments pubescent on the 

 outer side, usually with 2 setose appendages 

 below the summit; capsule ovoid-pyramidal, 

 li"-2" high, truncate, about as long as the 

 sepals ; seeds club-shaped. 



In sandy soil, Rhode Island to Florida, mostly 

 near the coast, extending west to Tennessee and 

 Arkansas. Sorrel-tree. Wicks. May-July. 



19. XOLISMA Raf. Am. Month. Mag. 4: 193. 1819. 

 [Lyonia Nutt. Gen. i : 266. 1818. Not Raf. 1808, nor Ell. 1817.] 



Tall shrubs, or small trees, with terete twigs, alternate short-petioled, lepidote or pubes- 

 cent leaves, and small mostly white flowers in terminal or axillary, usually panicled racemes 

 or clusters. Calyx 4-5-lobed or 4-5-cleft, the lobes not imbricated, valvate. Corolla globose, 

 or urceolate, pubescent, 4-S-toothed, the teeth recurved. Stamens 8-10, included; filaments 

 flat, incurved, pubescent, not appendaged ; anthers attached to the filaments near their bases, 

 truncate, not awned, the sacs opening by large terminal pores. Disk 8-io-lobed. Ovary 

 4-S-ceIled; style columnar; stigma truncate; ovules numerous, pendulous, attached to the 

 upper part of the placentae. Capsule globose or ovoid, 4-s-angled, loculicidally 4-S-valved, 

 its apex intruded, the sutures thickened. Seeds numerous, elongated, the testa membranous, 

 loose, reticulated. [Name unexplained.] 



About 20 species, natives of eastern North America, the West Indies and Mexico. Besides the 

 following, 2 others occur in the southern United States. Type species : Andromeda jerruginea 

 Walt. 



I. Xolisma ligustrina (L.) Britton. Privet 

 Andromeda. Fig. 3245. 



Vaccinium ligustrinum L. Sp. PI. 351. 1753. 



Andromeda ligustrina Muhl. Cat. 43. 1813. 



Lyonia ligustrina DC Prodr. 7 : 599, 1839. 



X. ligustrina Britton, Mem. Torr. Club 4: 135. 1894. 



A much branched shrub, 3°-i2° high, the twigs pu- 

 berulent or glabrous. Leaves obovate, oblong, oval or 

 ovate, deciduous, minutely serrulate or entire, acute at 

 each end or abruptly acuminate at the apex, usually 

 quite glabrous above, more or less pubescent, at least on 

 the veins, or glabrous when old, i'-3i' long; racemes 

 numerous, mostly leaflessv in terminal panicles or clus- 

 ters, many-flowered ; bracts small, caducous ; pedicels 

 single or clustered, i"-3" long, pubescent; calyx-lobes 

 triangular-ovate, acute; corolla nearly globular, about 

 1 1" in diameter; capsule depressed-globose, obtusely 

 5-angled, about li" in diameter. 



In swamps and wet soil, Canada (according to Pursh), 



Maine to New York, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and 



_ Texas. White-wood. White-alder or pepper-bush. Seedy 



buckberry. Lyon's-andromeda. May-July. 



Xolisma foliosiflora (Michx.) Small, of the Southern States, differs in having the inflorescence 



leafy-bracted. , 



20. OXYDENDRUM DC. Prodr. 7: 601. 1839. 



A tree, with alternate petioled deciduous sour leaves, and very numerous white flowers, 

 in terminal panicled racemes. Pedicels 2-bracteolate at or above the middle. Sepals 5, slightly 



