LAUEACEJ!. 193 



lanoe-pointed, eacla 'bearing 2-3 long bristles on each side, 

 and a large grain on the hack. — Sea-shore, Atl. Prov. 

 * * Herbage sour ; leaves Imlberd-shaped. 

 8. R. Aeetosel'la, L. (Fikld or Sheep Soebel.) Stem 

 6-12 inches high. Flowers dicecious, in a, terminal naked 

 panicle. — A very common weed in poor soil. 



"■ 3. FA.GOPVRVIH, Tourn. Buckwheat. 



1. F. eseulen'tum, Mcench. (Buckwheat.) Old fields 

 and copses, remaining after cultivation. Achene smooth 

 and shining. 



2. F. Tartar'ieum, Gsertn., has very small flowers, and 

 a dull roughish achene. — Escaped from cultivation in a few 

 places. 



Order LXXIX. LAURA' CE^. (Lauret. I'amily.) 



Trees or shrubs with spicy- aromatic hark and leaves, the 

 latter simple (often lobed), alternate and marked with small 

 transparent dots (visible under a lens). Sepals G, petal-like. 

 Flowers dioecious or polygamo-dioecious. Stamens in sterile 

 flowers 9, inserted at the base of the calyx. Anthers open- 

 ing by uplifting valves. Ovary in fertile flowers free from 

 the calyx, 1-oelled, with a single ovule hanging from the top 

 of the cell. Style and stigma 1. Fruit a l-seeded,drupe. 



1. SAS'SAFRAS, Nees. SASSAFRAS. 



S. offleina'le, Nees. A small or moderate-sized tree with 

 yellowish or greenish-yellow twigs and ovate or 3-lobed 

 entire leaves. ' Flowers greenish-yellow, in naked corymbs, 

 appearing with the leaves in the axils of the latter. Drupe 

 blue, on a reddish pedicel. The 9 stamens in 3 rows, the 3 ' 

 inner each with a pair of yellow glands at the base of the 

 filament. Anthers 4-celled, 4-valved. — Rich woods, in south- 

 ern and western Ontario. 



8. LInr'DEKA, Thunberg. Wild Allspice. Fever-bush. 



L. Benzo'in, Meisner. (Spice-bush.) A nearly smooth 

 shrub with oblong-obovate leaves, pale beneath. Flowers 



