@.71) CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION 131 
mucilaginous. Flowers yellowish-green, in clusters; 
blooming in early spring. Fruit a small bluish drupe 
on a thick reddish stem. Ripe in 
September. Twigs greenish-yellow. 
Sassafras officinale, Nees. (Sassa- 
FRAS.) Leaves very variable in form, 
ovate, entire, or some of them 2- to 3- 
lobed, soon smooth. Flowering as the 
leaves are putting forth. Tree 15 to 100 
ft. high, common in rich woods. The aro- 
matic fragrance is strongest in the bark 
of the roots. Wood reddish, rather hard 
and durable. 
Genus 70. LINDERA. 
Shrubs with deciduous, alternate, aromatic leaves and 
g small, yellow flowers in close clus- 
Z 1K ters along the branches. Fruit a 
drupe on a not-thickened stalk. 
Lindera Benzdéin, Blume. (SPICE-BUSH. 
BENJAMIN-BUSH.) Leaves alternate, ob- 
long-ovate, entire, pale beneath, very 
spicy in odor and taste ; twigs green; leaf- 
buds scaly; drupes red, ripe in autumn. 
Flowers 4 to 5 together in sessile umbels; 
in early spring, before thé leaves expand. 
Common in damp woods throughout. 
L, Benzdin, 
OrDER XXXIV. ELHAGNACEZ. 
(OLEASTER FAMILy.) 
A small order of shrubs or small trees, with the leaves 
covered with silvery scurf. 
Genus 71. ELAAGNUS. 
Leaves alternate, entire; flowers axillary, stemmed; 
fruit drupe-like with an 8-grooved stone. 
