PLANTAIN FAMILT. 221 



1. STITBAX, STORAX. (The ancient Greek name.) Leaves, &c. with 

 some scurf or starry dmvn. Shrubs, in low pine woods or barrens, from Vir- 

 ginia S. : fl. late spring. 



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

 flowers mostly numerous in racemes. 



S. pulverul6llta, has oval or obovate leaves less than 2' long, their 

 low«r face scurfy-downy, and fragrant flowers few together or single. 



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

 flowers 2-4 together or single. 



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

 Stephen Hales, early writer of essays in vegetable physiology.) Tall shrubs 

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



H. tetr^ptera, Fouk-winozd 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. Two-winged H., confined to low country S. ; has coarsely 

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

 distiuct stamens, and 2-winged fruit. 



3. SYMPLOCOS, (A Greek name, mea.ns growing toffdher.) Fl. spring. 

 S. tinctdria, Sweet-Leaf, Hoese-S0Gak. Shrub or small tree, in rich 



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

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

 sweettasted, 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 scaripus and dry, or 

 ivithering on the pod ; lobes 4. Stamens 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 2-celled anthers. Style and long hairy 

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

 falling off as a lid, and the partition then falling out allong 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. miljor. Common Plantain, in yards, &e. Usually smooth or smooth- 

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

 pod. y, 



P. lanceol&ta, Ribgkass, Ripplegkass, or English Plantain. Nat. 

 from Eu. in fields : rather hairy, with lanceolate or 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. ^ 



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-seededpod. CD y = . f. ,, . 



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

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

 over the pod. 



P. Virglniea. Sandy grounds mostly S. : small, pubescent, with ohavatB 

 or lanee-spatulate 3 - 5-ribbed leaves, a small spike, and S-seeded pbdi 



