POPULAR FLORA. 



195 



81. MEZEREUM FAMILY. Order THYMELEACEjE. 



Shrubs, with very tough and acrid bark ; entire generally alternate leaves ; and perfect 

 flowers, with a tubular 

 calyx colored like a co- 

 rolla, bearing 8 or 10 

 stamens, free from the 

 simple pistil. Ovary one- 

 celled, one-ovuled, mak- 

 ing a berry in fruit. — AVe 

 have one wild plant of 

 the family ; Daphne Me- 

 zereum is a hardy low 

 shrub in gardens, and D. 

 odora in houses. Flowers 

 appearing earlier than 

 the leaves. 



490. Flr.werin^l,ranchlelorT.eath- 



erwood, 491. Eioiicli wuh ruliaSTtf 

 _and fi'iiit. 492. A Dower, magniritiU. 

 ''AJ'i. Same, more inagiiified, Ihe caljrx 



laid open^ 



Caljx salver-shaped or funnel-shaped, generally rose-color, the border 4-lobed: stamens 8, 



* *" in two sets, included ; filaments hardly any, (Daphne) *Daphne. 



Calyx tubular, pale yellow, with no spreading border, obscurely 4-toothed: stamens 8, 



with long protruded filaments, (Dirca) Le.ithekwood. 



82. NETTLE FAMILY. Order URTICACE^. 



Monoecious, dioecious, or barely polygamous herbs, shrubs, or trees, with stipules, and a 

 regular calyx, free from the ovaiy, which forms a one-seeded fruit. Divides into four dis- 

 tinct subfamilies which might be reckoned as families, viz. : — 



I. ELM Subfamily. Trees, with alternate simple leaves, and polygamous or often nearly perfect 

 flowers : styles or long stigmas 2. 

 Ovary 2-cened, a hanging ovule in each cell : stamens 4 to 9. Flowers earlier than the 



leaves. Fruit a thin key, winged all round, one-seeded (Fig. 207), { JJlrims) Elm. 



Ovary one-celled, with one hanging ovule: stamens 5 or 6. Fruit a small drupe. Leaves 



ovate or heart-shaped, ( Cellis) Hackbeery. 



n. BREADFRUIT Subfamily. Trees, with a milky or colored juice, and alternate leaves; the 

 flowers in heads or catkin-like spikes, the fertile ones fleshy i n fruit, or both kinds in a fleshy receptacle. 

 Styles 1 or 2: ovary becoming an akene in fruit. Iimer bark often tough and fibrous. 

 Flowers, of both kinds mixed, enclosed in a pear-shaped fleshy receptacle like a rose-hip 



which is pulpy when ripe, {Ficus) *Fic. 



