200 rADREL FAMILY. 



R. salioif61ius, White D. Salt marshes : l°-3° high ; pedicels much 

 shorter than the fruiting calyx and in much-crowded whorls, forming a spike ; 

 valves more triangular than in the foregoing and smaller, their grain very 

 large ; root white. 



R. verticill&tUS, Swamp D. Common N. . 3° -5° high ; whorls loose; 

 fruit-bearing pedicels slender and club-shaped, abruptly reflexed ; valves some- 

 what rhombic and with narrow blunt apex, each bearing «. very large gi-ain ; 

 leaves thickish, the lowest often heart-shaped at base. 



» » Weeds not, from. Europe, in cult, or waste ground: stem erect, 2° -4° liiqh : 

 lower l&wes or some of them hexirt-sliaped at hose, all more or less wavv ; 

 root comvionltj yd'ow and spindle-shaped. ^ 



E. crispUS, CuKLED D. Leaves green, lanceolate, very wavy-curled, the 

 lower rather truncate than heart-shaped at base ; whorls crowded in long 

 racemes ; valves rounded, heart-shaped, nearly entire ; mostly grain-bearing. 



R. sanguineus, Bloodt-veinkd or Red D. Leaves less curled and 

 red-veined, lanceolate or oblong ; whorls distant ; pedicels very short ; valves 

 narrowly oblong, one or more grain-bearing. 



R. obtusifdlius, Bittee D. Leaves little wavy, the upper lance-oblong 

 and acute, lower oblong-heart-shaped and obtuse ; whorls loose and distant ; 

 valves ovate,' partly halberd-shaped, beset with some long sharp teeth near the 

 base, usually only one grain-bearing. 



» # * Sandy seashore and river-hanks N. : 5'- 12' hitjh, spreading. ® 



R. maritimus. Minutely pubescent ; leaves lance-linear, wavy-margined, 

 the lower auricled or heart-shaped at base ; whorls much cro^yded into leafy 

 spikes ; valves rho'mbic-oblong with a tapering point, turning orange-colored, a 

 large grain on the back and 2 or 3 long stout bristles on each margin. 



§ 2. SoKKELS. Herliage acid: some leaves halberd-shaped, others with entire 

 narrowed base : flowers dioecious, small, in a terjtiinal naked panick : valves 

 naked : fl. sprinij and summer, y. 



R. Aeetos611a, Commov or Sheep Soeeel. Low weed in all sterile 

 fields ; leaves lance-oblong or ha'berd-shaped, the lobes or auricles narrow ; pedi- 

 cels jointed with the flower ; ovate valves hardly enlarging in friiit. 



R. EDgelm&nni, only S. & W., differs in pedicels jointed near the mid- 

 dle, and thin rounded heart-shaped valves becoming many times larger than 

 the akene. 



96. LAURACE^, LAUREL FAMILY. 



Spicy-aromatic trees or shrubs, the alternate simple leaves (with 

 entire margins but sometimes lobed) more or less marked with 

 minute pellucid dots ; the regular flowers with a calj'x of 4 or 6 

 sepals imbricated in two ranks in the bud, and free from the 

 ovary ; the latter is terminated by a simple style and stigma, is 

 1 -celled with a hanging ovule, and in fruit becomes a berry or 

 drupe. The stamens (in ours 9) furnish a special character, their 

 anthers opening by uplifted valves ! To this family belong the 

 clas.-ical Laurel or Bay, the Cinnamon, the Camphor-tree, &c. 

 # Floivers perfect, in axillary panicles. 



1. PERSEA. Calyx 6-parted, persistent at the base of the beiTy. Stamens 9 



with anthers, the 3 outer of which arc turned outwards, the 6 "others inward; 

 also 3 glands or sterile filaments forming an innermost tow. The two proper 

 cells of the anther with a lower and an upper chamber, making 4 compart- 

 ments, each opening by a valve in the manner of a trap-door. 

 * * Flowers wholly or nearly dioecious, greenish-yellow, leaves deciduous. 



2. SASSAFRAS. Flowers in an open corymbed and peduncled cluster, with 



spreading 0-partod calyx: sterile ones with 9 stamens in 3 rows, the filaments 

 of the three inner with" a pair of yellow stalked glands on their base. Anthcn 

 with 4 chambers as in tlio probcding. Fertile flowers with C radiments of 

 stamens and an ovoid ovary, oecoming a di"upo. 



