MYRTALES, 647 



Stamens as many as the perianth-parts; flowers perfect or polygamous; leaves alternate. 



1. Elaeagnus. 

 Stamens twice as many as the perianth-parts; flowers dioecious: leaves opposite. 



2, Lepargyraea. 



1. ELAEAGNUS L. 



Silver- scaly shrubs, some exotic species trees, with petioled leaves. Flowers 

 solitary or 2-4 together in the axils, pedicelled, not bracted. Perianth tubular 

 below, constricted over the top of the ovary, the upper part deciduous, the lobes val- 

 vate. Stamens 4, borne on the throat of the perianth. Ripened perianth-base 

 fleshy or mealy. [Greek, sacred olive. ] About 20 species; only the following is 

 known in X. Am. 



1. Elaeagnus argentea Pursh. Silver Berry. (I. F. f. 2536.) Stolon- 

 iferous. sometimes 4 m. high, the young twigs covered with brown scurf, becom- 

 ing silvery. Leaves oblong, ovate or oval-lanceolate, densely silvery-scurfy on 

 both sides, short-petioled, 2-10 cm. long; flowers usually numerous, I to 3 in the 

 axils, fragrant, silvery. 12-16 mm. long; perianth silvery without, yellowish 

 within, its lobes ovate, about 2 mm. long; fruit oval, silvery, 8-12 mm. long, the 

 stone 8-striate. James Bay to the N. W. Terr., Quebec, Minn., S. Dak. and 

 Utah. May-July. 



2. LEPARGYRAEA Raf. [SHEPHERDIA Nutt.] 



Shrubs, brown- or silvery-scurfy or stellate-pubescent, with petioled leaves. 

 Flowers small, dioecious, or sometimes polygamous, subspicate or fascicled at the 

 nodes of the preceding season, or axillary, the pistillate few or sometimes solitary. 

 Pistillate flowers with a 4-lobed perianth, bearing an 8-lobed disk at its mouth 

 which nearly closes it; style somewhat exserted. Staminate flowers with a 4-partcd 

 perianth and 8 stamens alternating with as many lobes of the disk; filaments short. 

 [Greek, silvery-scaly.] Only the following species, and L. roliindifolia of Utah. 



Leaves ovate or oval, green above, silvery beneath; shrub thornless. 1. L. Canadensis. 

 Leaves oblong, silvery on both sides; shrub mostly thorny. 2. L. argentea. 



1. Lepargyraea Canadensis (L.) Greene. Canadian Buffalo-berry. 

 (I. F. f. 2537.) A thornless shrub, 1-2.8 m. high, the young shoots brown- 

 scurf}-. Leaves ovate or oval, obtuse, 2-4 cm. long, green and sparingly stellate- 

 scurfy above, densely silvery stellate-scurfy beneath; petioles 4-6 mm. long; flow- 

 ers yellowish; perianth about 4 mm. broad; fruit oval, red or yellowish, 4-6 mm. 

 long, the flesh insipid, the nut smooth. On banks, Newf. to Alaska, Me., N. Y., 

 Mich, and Utah. April-June. 



2. Lepargyraea argentea (Nutt.) Greene. Buffalo-berry. Rabbit- 

 berry. (I. F. f. 2538.) A shrub. 2-6 m. high, the twigs often terminating in 

 thorns. Leaves oblong, or sometimes oblong-lanceolate, 2-5 cm. long, obtuse 

 at the apex, usually cuneate-narrowed at the base; densely silvery-scurfy on both 

 sides: petioles 4-12 mm. long; flowers fascicled at the nodes; fruit oval, or ovoid, 

 scarlet, sour, 4-6 mm. long, edible. Manitoba and Minn, to Saskatch., Kans. 

 and Nev. April-May. 



Order 26. MYRTALES. 



Our species mostly herbs, many tropical and subtropical ones shrubs 

 or trees. Leaves simple, often lobed or dissected. Petals usually present, 

 distinct (wanting in some Haloragidaceae). Calyx gamosepalous, mostly 

 superior or adnate to the compound ovary. Ovules usually numerov 



Land or marsh plants, or, if aquatic, submerged leaves not dissected. 



Calyx-tube merely enclosing the ovary, but free from it, except at the base. 



Anthers longitudinally dehiscent. Fam. i. Lythraceae. 



Anthers opening by terminal pores. Fam. 2. Melastomaceae. 



Calyx-tube almost wholly adnate to the ovary. Fam. 3. Onagraceae. 



Aquatic or amphibious herbs, the submerged leaves dissected (except in Hippuris x which 

 has whorled narrow leaves and onlv 1 stamen). 



