EBOIS^Y FAMILY. 



217 



inhabitants of South America, belongs to this genus. One of our own 

 southern species, I. Cassi'ne, L., known as Yaupou, furnished the black 

 drink of the North Carolina Indians. * 



§ 2. Parts of the sterile flowers in fours, Jives, or sixes; those of the fertile 

 ficicers commonly in sixes (rarely in fives, sevens or eights) ; nutlets smooth 

 and even. Shrubs. Prinos. 



2. I. verticilla'ta, Gray. Leaves obovate, oval or wedge-lanceolate, 

 pointed, acute at the base, serrate, downy on the veins beneath ; flowers 

 all very short-ped uncled ; berries red. 



YERTicnj^ATE Ilex. Black Alder. Winter-berry. 



stem 6-8 feet bigh, much braached. Leaves 2-3 inches long ; petioles about hah" an 

 inch in length. Flowers greenish white, in sessile clusters or solitary. Berries about }^ 

 of an inch in diameter. 



Low grounds : common especially northward. June. 



Obs. The bark and berries of this species have some medicinal reputa- 

 tion as a cure for ill-conditioned sores — used both externally and inter- 

 nally. Another nearly related species, I. Igeviga'ta, Gray, found in wot 

 swamps, has the leaves mostly smooth beneath, the sterile flowers long- 

 peduncled, and larger berries than the preceding. Both are sometimes 

 seen cultivated among shrubbery, their red berries rendering them very 

 showy in autumn. I. gla'bra, G'raz/, the Ink-berry, has evergreen, nar- 

 row leaves, and black berries. It is mostly found near the coast, and is 

 much sought after by the flower-merchants of our large cities, as it is 

 one of the most suitable evergreens to work into bouquets. * 



Order XLIY. EBENA'CE^E. (Ebony Family.) 



Trees or shrubs, destitute of milky juice, the wood often black. Leaves alternate and entire, 

 without stipules. Flowers often polygamous. Calyx free from the ovary. Stamens twice 

 to four times as many as the lobes of the corolla. Ovary 3 - several-celled. Fruit bac- 

 cate. Seeds pendulous, bony, with cartilaginous albumen. 



A small Order, and the genus here given is the only one of any considerable impor- 

 tance, — some of the species of which furnish the well-known hard black wood called 

 Ebony. 



1. DIOSPY'ROS, L. Persimmon. 



[Greek, Dis, Dios, Jupiter, and Pyros, fruit ; a rather fanciful name for such fruit.] 



DicECiousLY Polygamous : calyx 4 - 6-parted. Corolla tubular, some- 

 what urceolate, 4- 6-cleft. Sterile Fl. Stamens twice or maay times 

 (usually 4 times) as numerous as the lobes of the corolla ; anthers linear- 

 lanceolate. Ovary abortive. Fertile Fl. Stamens 8-16, mostly 

 abortive. Ovary 4-8-celled ; styles 2, 4, or several, more or less connate 

 at base. Berry ovoid or subglobose, with the persistent ca]yx often 

 adhering to the base, 8 - 12-seeded. Seeds oblong, compressed. Trees, 

 or rarely shrubs. Flowers axillary, subsessile — the fertile ones solitary, 

 the sterile ones mostly in threes. 



10 



