DlRCA. 



THYMELACE.E. 



163 



Order LXXXLX. THYMELACEtE. Juss. The Mezereum Tribe. 



Calyx petaloid ; the tube free from the ovary ; the limb 4 - (rarely 5 - ) cleft, 

 sometimes entire, imbricate in aestivation. Stamens definite, opposite the 

 calyx-lobes when equal to them in number. Ovary one- celled, with a single 

 anatropous ovule suspended from the summit of the cell : style single, lateral 

 or nearly terminal : stigma capitate. Fruit drupaceous or nut-like. Albumen 

 none, or very thin and fleshy. — Shrubs, destitute of stipules, with very tough 

 bark, and opposite or alternate, simple entire leaves. Flowers perfect ; the 

 inflorescence various. 



1 : . DIRCA. Linn ; Endl. gen. 2091. LEATHER-WOOD. 

 [ From the Greek, dirkc, a fountain ; the plant growing near water.] 



Calyx tubular-funnelshaped, petaloid ; the border truncate, and erosely toothed at the summit. 

 Stamens 8, unequal, exserted. Style filiform. Drupe baccate, with a thin dry pulp : 

 endocarp thin and crustaceous. Seed large, with very thin albumen : embryo almond-like. 

 — A shrub of a yellow aspect, with oval leaves and axillary 3-flowered peduncles. 



1. Dirca palustris, Linn. Leather-wood. 



Linn. sp. 1. p. 358, and a?ncen. acad. 4. p. 12. t. l.f. 7 ; Michx. fl.\. p. 236 ; Bot. reg. 

 t. 292 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 268 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 448 ; Bigel. vied. bot. 2. p. 154. t. 37, and fl. 

 Bost. p. 149 ; Torr.fl. 1. p. 399 ; Beck, bot. p. 307 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 243 ; Hook, 

 fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 138 ; Loud. enc. tr- §■ shr. p. 692. t. 1353. 



A shrub 2-4 feet high, much branched from the base; the branches flexuous, of a yellowish 

 color. Leaves 3-4 inches long, pale yellowish green, obtuse or rather acute, sometimes a 

 little cordate at the base, villous underneath when young, but finally almost smooth : petioles 

 very short. Scales of the buds large, oval, sometimes persistent. Flowers appearing before 

 the leaves, usually three together on a short thick peduncle, and at first enclosed in a hairy 

 bud : the peduncle is apparently formed of the confluent pedicels. Calyx about half an inch 

 long, a little contracted near the base and about the middle. Filaments slender, inserted into 

 the border of a thin disk that lines the corolla nearly half way up, alternately longer, with 

 very minute subulate processes alternating with them at the base. Ovary ovoid, somewhat 

 oblique ; the style subterminal, filiform, longer than the stamens. Fruit oval, acute, about 

 half an inch long, reddish when ripe. 



Woods and marshes, particularly along rivulets ; sometimes in dry situations. Fl. April - 

 May. The branches of this shrub are so tough that the Indians use them for making cords. 



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