G.55] 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION 



119 



2. Bumelia lycioides, Pers. (SOUTHERN 

 BUCKTHORN.) Leaves 2 to 4 in. long, oval- 

 lanceolate, usually bluntish with a tapering 

 base and entire margin, deciduous, a lit- 

 tle silky beneath when young. Clusters 

 densely many-flowered (20 to 30) ; flowers 

 small ( in.), smooth, greenish-white. May, 

 June. A spiny shrub or tree, 10 to 25 ft. 

 high, in moist ground, Virginia, west and 

 south. About as hardy as the preceding 

 species. 



B. lycioides. 



ORDER XXVII. EBENACE-SJ. (EBONY FAMILY.) 

 A small order of mostly tropical trees and shrubs. 



GENUS 55. DIOSPYBOS. 



Trees or shrubs with alternate, simple, entire, feather- 

 veined leaves. Flowers small, inconspicuous, mostly di- 

 oecious. Fruit a globose berry with the 5-lobed thick 

 calyx at the base, and with 8 to 12, occasionally 1 to 5, 

 rather large seeds ; ripe after frost. 



Diospyros Virginiana, L. (COMMON- 

 PERSIMMON. ) Leaves 4 to 6 in . long, ovate-- 

 oblong, acuminate, rather thick, smooth, 

 dark, shining above, a little pale beneath. 

 Bark dark-colored and deeply furrowed in 

 a netted manner with rather small meshes. 

 Flowers yellowish, rather small, somewhat 

 dioecious; the stamiuate ones urn-shaped 

 with mouth nearly closed; the pistillate 

 ones more open. June. Fruit large, 1 in. ; 

 very astringent when young, yellow and 

 pleasant-tasting after frost. A handsome, 

 ornamental tree, 20 to 60ft. high, with 

 very hard, dark-colored wood and bright 

 foliage. Southern New England to Illinois 



D. Virgini&na. 



