500 Oedeb 'Zt.— SAPOTACB^. 



IS to 20f high. Prof. Pond describes one on the Ogeechee E,, 46f high, trunk 

 18' diam. Mr. Buckley one in N. Car., whose trunk measured llf in circumfer- 

 ence. Lvs. quite large (4 to 6 or 1' by 2 to 3'). Fls. in clusters of 3 to 5, on 

 ped. 1 to 2' long. The 2-winged pods are near 2' long. It begins to bloom sev- 

 eral weeks later than No. 1. Apr. (H. parviflora Mx. ?) 



Order LXX:VI. EBENACE^. Ebonads. 



25-efts or shrubs without milky juice and with a heavy wood. Leaves alternate, 

 exstipulate, coriaceous, entire. Inflorescence axillary. Flowers by abortion dioeci- 

 ous seldom perfect. Cal. free, 3 to 6-eleft, divisions nearly equal, persistent. Cm- 

 oUa regular 3 to 6-oleft, often pubescent, imbricate in aestivation. Stamens twice or 

 4 times as many as the lobes of the corolla. Fr. a fleshy, oval or globona berry. 

 Seeds large, suspended, albuminous. 



Genera 10, species 160, mostly native of the Indies and the tropics, one only being found as 

 far North as N. Y. 



Properties. — ^Diospyrus is remarkable for the liardne.ss and dark calor of the wood. Ebony i» 

 the wood of D. Kbenus, Ebenaster, and other species, natives of Africa. The fruit of the species 

 below is eatable when fully ripe, although extremely bitter and astringent before maturity. 

 The bark is eminently febrifugal and .astringent. 



DIOSPY'ROS, Dalesch. Persimmon. Fls. 5 $ . Cal. 4— e-lobed ; 

 cor. tubular or campanulatc, 4 — 6-cleft, convolute in sastivation. 3 

 Sta. 8 — 50, mostly 16 ; fil. shorter than the anthers; ova. abortive; sty. 

 0. $ Sta. mostly 8, without anthers ; sty. 2 — 4-cleft ; berry ovoid or 

 globous, 4 — 12- mostly 8-eelled, cells 1-seeded. — A large genus of 

 shrubs or trees, mostly tropical. 



D. Virginiana L. Lvs. elliptic, abruptly acuminate, entire, smooth, petioles, veins 

 and margins puberulent ; rac. axillary, 3 to 1-flowered, pedicels shorter than the 

 flowers ; cal. 4-parted ; stam. 8. — In woods, lat. 42°, to Fla. and La., frequent. A 

 shrub or small tree at the North, a tree of large dimensions South and "West. 

 Leaves 3 — 5' long, entire, glaucous beneath. Flowers obscure, pale greenish- 

 yellow, the fertile ones succeeded by a round, orange-red fruit as large as the gar- 

 den plum, and containing 6 — 8 stony seeds., They are rendered sweet and palata- 

 ble by the frost. Bark tonic and astringent. Jn. 



Order LXXVII. SAPOTACE^ Soapworts. 



Vrecs or shrubs, mostly with a milky juice, and simple, entire leaves. Flowers 

 small, regular, perfect, mostly in axUlary clusters. Calyx free, persistent. CordUa 

 hypogynous, short, stamens usually as many as its lobes and opposite to them, in- 

 serted into its tube along with one or more rows of appendages. Anthjcrs oxtrorse. 

 Ovary 4 to 12-celled, with a single anatropous ovule in each cell. Seeds large, 

 usually albuminous. 



Genera 21, species 212, chiefly tropical. 



Valuable for their succulent fruit, as the marmalade, star-apple, etc., for their febrifugal bai'k, 

 some species of Achras being used as a substitute for Cinchona, and their gum resins, as the 

 Gutta-Percha obtained from the tree Ison.andra Gutta. 



BUME'LIA, Swarts. (The Greek name of the Ash.) Calyx 6-parted 

 corolla 5-cleft, with a row of 10 narrow appendages on the edges of 

 the lobes ; stamens 5, opposite the lobes, alternate with 5 petaloid, ster- 

 ile stamens ; ovary 6-celled ; style filiform ; drupe ellipsoid, 1-seeded. 

 — Shrubs and trees, with a very hard, firm wood. Branchlets often 

 changed to spines. Lvs. entire, of a firm texture. Fls. aggregated 

 ■with the lvs. from buds of the preceding year, white or greenish. Our 

 species are all more or less spiny. 

 * Leaves hoiry beneath Nos. 1, 2. *• Leaves glabrous both aides Noa. 8, 4 



