434 SYNGENESIA [Ct Kareje 





beneath, and more or less villose In the axils of the nerves; petioles 1 to 2 inches 

 long; stipules lance-ovate, small, membranaceous, smooth, deciduous. Flatter* 

 in numerous small lateral fascicles on the limbs, and often on the trunk, appear, 

 fag before the leaves ; pedicels about half an inch long, filiform, smooth, 4 t 6 or 

 8 from a bud. Calyx subcampanulate, giblxmsly dilated, smooth ; segments short 

 rounded, very minutely ciliate. Corolla bright purple; vexillum small, covered' 

 by the wings; keel of 2 distinct petals, larger than the wings. Ovary linear ta 

 pering gradually into a style ; stigma simple. Legume about 3 inches long and 

 half an inch wide, oblong, subcoriaceous, smooth, much compressed, acute at each 

 end, the upper suture with a winged margin. Seeds obovate, or oval, somewhat 

 compressed, dark brown. 

 Hub. Banks of the Schuylkill : not common. Fl. April. Fr. June. 



Obs. This little tree is much admired for its clusters of small flowers,— which 

 clothe the limbs in purple before the leaves appear. The flowers are acid to \\u 

 taste. It is the only species in the U. States. 



CLASS XVII. SY1VGENESIA.' 



I. Ctxaha Tribe. Heads ovoid, mostly homogamovs {sometimes 

 dioicous), — -when heterogamous,'with the florets of the circumference 

 always in a single series, rarely pistillate. Corolla tubular,, mostly 

 regular, 5-cleft. CrNAKLiE. Lessing* 



Sub Tribe 1. Centauries. Akenes not beaked, smoothish when the areoU 

 is terminal. Papfms bristly, the base invested by a prominent margin which sur- 

 rounds the epigynous disk ; rarely wanting. Involucre of many series, with the 

 leaflets distinct. Receptacle bristly-paleaceous. 



355. CENTAUREA. L. Autt. Gen. 694. 

 [From the Centaur, Chiron ; who, it is said, cured his wound with the plant.] 



Heads heterogamous. Involucre imbricated ; leaflets scarious, or var- 

 iously serrate, on the margin. Corolla of the neutral or ray florets, 

 when present, 6-parted, funnel-form, larger than the others. Filament* 

 papillose. Pappus in many series, pilose. Akenes compressed, with 

 a lateral areola. Receptacle bristly-paleaceous. 



* The plants of this Class constitute a very large natural Family {Nat, Ord\ 186. 

 Lindl. Composite.). They are generally herbaceous (rarely shrubby), with th..- 

 leaves alternate, or opposite, without stipules, and usually simple ; the apparently 

 Xnrxtjtowers composed of numerous florets, which are monoclinous, or diclinous, 

 collected in dense heads upon a common receptacle^ and surrounded by a many. 

 leaved i?ivolucre 1 — the florets often with chaffy bracts at base, commonly called 

 palea of the receptacle; calyx superior, or raiher closely ad nate to the ovary,— 

 the limb membranous, divided into chaffy scales, bristles, or hairs, crowning the 

 ovary, and called pajtpus, often obsolete, or wanting ; corolla monopctalous, usu- 

 ally deciduous, ligulate, or funnel-form,— in the latter case mostly 5-lobed, with a 

 valvate aestivation; stamens 5, alternate with the lobes of the corolla, the anthen 

 cohering and forming a cylindrical tube embracing the style ; ovary inferior, 1-ceb 

 led, with a single erect ovule ; style simple, mostly bifid at summit ; fruit a small 

 dry indehiscent pericarp (called an ake7ie), crowned with the limb of the calyx, 

 often rostrate, rendering the pappus apparently stipitate ; seed solitary. 



Instead of using the Ldnnaan Orders of this Class, I have attempted to follow 

 the arrangement of Lessing** Synojms Gencrum Compositarum,— grouping thr 

 Genera into Tribes. 



