808 ORDER XLVI. MELASTOMACE.E. 



5. A. rottjndifo'lia, (T. & G.) (Aronia ovalis of Ell.) A small shrub 

 Leaves nearly round, acute, glabrous, sharply serrate. Flowers 6 — 10, 

 in a raceme. Petals obovate, small ; segments of the calyx pubescent. 

 Fruit black, eatable. — White. ^ . March — April. Middle Car. and 

 Geo. 2—3 feet. 



Order XLV.— CALYCANTHA'CE^E. Lind. 



Sepals and petals confounded ; aestivation imbricate, formed 

 at the base into an urceolate tube ; segments colored, petal-like. 

 Stamens numerous, inserted into the tube of the calyx. An- 

 thers adnate, extrorse. Seeds numerous, contained in an en- 

 larged, ventricose calyx. 



Genus I— CALYCAN'THUS. L. 11—12. 



(From the Greek kalux, a calyx, and anthos, a flower, the calyx heing confounded 

 with the corolla.) 



Lobes of the calyx in several series, lanceolate, colored, more 

 or less fleshy. Stamens numerous, outer ones fertile. Flowers 

 purple, odorous when bruised. 



Carolina Allspice. Sweet Shrub. 



1. C. flok'i^us, (L.) Stem terete, glabrous; branches opposite, vir- 

 gate, young ones pubescent. Leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate, oppo- 

 site, entire, *ugose, slightly pubescent. Flowers terminal ; perianth 

 many-leaved ; leaves in many irregular whorls, linear or lanceolate. 

 Stamens 10 — 15 ; filaments short, the leaves of the inner whorl of the 

 perianth often having abortive anthers. Fruit an achenium, 15 — 20, in- 

 closed in the enlarged cavity formed by the floral organs combined. — 

 % . March— May. Rich lands. 3—6 feet. 



The odor of the flowers resembles that of ripe strawberries. The oil is too volatilo 

 to be collected by distillation. The bark yields a volatile oil, of pleasant odor, and 

 possessing medicinal qualities. 



Order XLVI.— MELASTOMA'CE^E. 



Sepals 4, combined into an urceolate tube, cohering to the 

 ovary. Petals 4, alternate with the segments of the calyx, in- 

 serted into its throat ; aestivation twisted. Stamens 4 — 8. 

 Anthers adnate, declined. Ovary 4-celled, with central pla- 

 centae ; ovules numerous. Style 1. Fruit capsular. Seeds 

 numerous, minute, anatropous. Herbs, with opposite, ribbed 

 leaves. 



Genus I.— RHEX'IA. L. 8—1. 



(From the Greek rhexis, a rupture; supposed to cure wounds by its astringent 



qualities.) 



Tube of the calyx ventricose at the base, narrowed above the 

 ovary. Petals obovate or roundish. Anthers l-cel!ed, with a 

 thick connectivum. Style declined. Stigma obtuse. Leave* 

 generally sessile, 3 -nerved. 



