NYSSACEjE. 309 



slccder, inserted on the perianth above the middle, asserted, 

 the alternate ones longer. Style 1, filiform : stigma capi- 

 tate. Drupe oval. — A mark branched shrub, with Jointed 



branches oval obovalc alternate leaves, and light yellow flowers, pre- 

 ceeding the leaves. 



D. palustris, L. Mboscwood'. Wicopp. 



Leaves oval-obovate, alternate, at length smooth, on very short petioles, antira, 

 obtuse. 



Damp rich woods, not common. April. Shrub 2 to 5 feet high, with white soft 

 .nd very brittle wood, but the fibrous bark is remarkably tough, whence the com- 

 mon name Leather wood. Flowers proceeding the loaves," 3 in a cluster en a short 

 hick peduncle. Barry oval, reddish when ripe. 



2. DAPHNE, Linn. Mezereum. 



From the nymph Daphne-, who, it is said was changed into a laurel. 



Periantii 2-clcft, mare?ccnt; limb spreading. Stamens- 

 8, included in the tube of the perianth. Style 1. Drupe 

 1-seeded. — Mostly evergreen shrubs, with the leaves generally 

 from the terminal hitch and the flowers from the lateral. 



D. Mezereum, L. Common Mezer cum. 



Leaves deciduous, lanceolate, in terminal tufts entire, sessile, about 3 from each 

 lateral hud; perianth funnel-form, the segments ovate, spreading; stamens inserted 

 in 2 rows near the top of the tube; fil intents very short ; stigma sessile. A beau- 

 tiful European shrub, 1 to 3 feet high, flowering in March. Flowers pink and, 

 white, clothing nearly the whole plant. 



Order 93. HnTSSAGElE.— Tupelo Family. 



Tree?, willi dioecious ■-polvgamous forcers, consisting only of the genus Nys«a, 

 which has commonly been appended to Santa! acese from which it differs in the Mili- 

 ary ovule of the ordinary structure, sw-pended from the Up of the eell. 



NYSSA, Linn. Tupelo. 



Sterile flowers with a 5-parted calyx, and about 10 

 stamens on the outside of a convex disk. Fertile with the 

 tube of the calyx adherent to the 1-celled ovary, th) border 

 4-parted and deciduous. Stamens 5 : style elongated, 

 revolute. Fruit an oval or oblong berry-like drupe, with a 

 grooved endocarp. — Trees, vjith alternate deciduous smooth 

 and shining leaves, and axillary peduncles, bearing sterile 

 flowers in capitate clusters or racemes, and the fertile 2 to 4 

 together or sometimes solitary. 



