PLA.NTAO FAMILY. 221 



1. STYEAX, STORAX. (The ancient Greek name.) LeareB, &(;, with 

 some scurf or starry down. Shrubs, in low pine woods or barri^ns, from Vir- 

 ginia S. : fl. late spring. 



S.grandif61ia, has obovate leaves (2' -6' long) white downy beneath, and 

 flowers mostly numerous in racemes. 



S. pulverul6nta, , has oval or obovate leaves less i than 2' long, their 

 ]ow«r face scurfy-downy, and ft:agrant flowers few together or Single. 



S. Americana, has oblong almost glabrous leaves acutfe at both ends, and 

 flowers 2-4 together or single. 



2. HALESIA, SNOWDROP- or SILVER-BELL-TREE. (Named for 

 St^hen Hates, early writer of essays in vegetable physiology.) Tall shrubs 

 or small trees, flowering in spring just as the leaves appear. 



H. tetr&ptera, Foue-winged H. Along streams from Virginia and the 

 Ohio River S., planted for ornament and hardy N. : tall, smoothish, with oblong 

 finely serrate leaves, 4-lobed corolla, 12-16 strongly monadelphous stamens, 

 and '4-winged fruit. 



H. diptera, Tv^o-wihged H., confined to low country S. ; has coarsely 

 serrate more downy oval leaves, 4 nearly distinct petals (1' long), 8-12 nearly 

 distinct stamens, and 2-wingBd fruit. ; 



3. SYMPLOCOS. {A Greek name, means grotving toe/ether.) Fl. spring. 

 S. tinctbria, Sweet-Leaf, Horse-Sugak. Shrub or small tree, in rich 



ground S., with cpriaceous oblong nearly entire almost evergreen leaves, pale 

 beneath, and small odorous flowers in close sessile bracted clusters. Leaves 

 sweet-tasted, greedily eaten by cattle. 



69. PLANTAGINACE^, PLANTAIN FAMILY. 



Consists almost entirely of the very familiar weedy genus 



1. PLANTAGO, PLANTAIN, RIBGRASS. (-The old Latin name.) 

 Flowers'in a-spike, on a naked scape, small, whitish. , Sepals 4 (or rarely 3 

 from two of them growing together), imbricated, persistent. Corolla short 

 salver-form, thin and membranaceous, usually becoming scarious and dry, or 

 withering on the pod ; lobes 4. Staniens 4 (or rarely 2) borne on the tube of 

 the corolla: filaments usually lengthening suddenly at flowering time and 

 hanging (as in Grasses), bearing the 2rcelled anthers. Style and long hairy 

 stigma single and thread-like. Ovary 2,ceUed. Pod 2-celled, a pyxis, the top 

 falling off as a lid, and the partition then falling out along with the 2 or more 

 seeds. Leaves parallel-ribbed, all from the ground. The following are the 

 common species : fl. summer. ' 



§ 1 . Flowers all alike and perfect, in each the style protruded a day or two before 

 the ant/iers open or are hung out : lobes of corolla remaining 'wide open. 



P. m^jor, Common Plantain, in yards, &c. Usually smooth or smooth- 

 ish, with ovate or oval 5 - 7-ribbed leaves, a slender spike, and 7 - 16-seeded 

 pod. 21 



P. lanceol^ta, Ribgkass, Ripplegeass, or Ejjglish Plantain. Nat. 

 from Eu. in fields : rather hairy, with lanceolate, pr lance-oblong 3-5-ribbed 

 leaves, a grooved-angled scape, thick and close spike, two of the sepals mostly 

 united into one, and 2-seeded pod. y. , " • .. 



P. maritima. Seaside P. Salt-marshes N. E. ; smooth, with linear thick 

 and fleshy sometimes almost terete leaves, showing no ribs, Slender spike, and 

 2 - 4'seeded pod. ® 2/ 



§ 2. Flowers almost dioecious, or of 2 sorts, one with 4 long stamens and open 

 corolci, the other with minute short stamens, and corolla closing permanently 

 over the pod. 



P. Virginica. Sandy grounds mostly S. : small, pubescent, with obovate 

 or lance-spatulate 3 - 5-ribbed leaves, a small spike, and 2-seeded pod. 



