1. BERCHEMIA. Necker; DC. prodr. 2. p. 22 ; Brongn. in am . sci.
not. 10. p. 356.
Calyx 5-parted, with a hemispherical tube; segments erect. Petals 5,
convolute. Stamens enclosed within the petals: anthers ovate, 2-celled.
Ovary half immersed in the annular flatfish disk, but free from it, 2-celled :
style short, conical, stightly bifid at the summit. Fruit oblong, drupaceous,
with a bony 2-celled nut.—Erect ot climbing unarmed shrubs. Leaves alternate,
many-veined; the veins oblique and nearly simple. Flowers in small
racemose panicles, or in fascicles, terminal and from the axils o f the upper
leaves.
1. B. volubilis (D C .): climbing; branches glabrous; leaves ovate, slightly
undulated, mucronate, glabrous; flowers difficious, in small panicles.—
DC. prodr. 2. p. 22. Rhamnus volubilis, Lin n .; Jacq. ic. rar. t. 336;
Walt. Car. p. 101; Michx.! jl. 1. p. 153. Zizyphus volubilis, Willd. sp. 1.
p. 1102; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 188; E ll.s k . 1. p. 290. iEnoplia volubilis,
Schult. syst. 5. p. 322.
Damp rich soils, Virginia ! to Florida! and west to the Mississippi! May-
June.—Stem climbing to the height of 12- L5 feet, tough and flexible, with
pendent branches. Leaves 1-2 inches long, obtuse or slightly cordate at the
base. Flowers minute: racemes or panicles 6-10-flowered. Calyx deeply
cleft; the segments reticulated. Petals oblong, folded round the stamens.
Drupe about 3 fines long, dark purple; pulp rather thin: nut very hard,
smooth, with a'slight groove on each side.
■2. RHAMNUS. Linn. ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 23 ; Brongn. 1. c. p. 360.
Calyx urceolate, 4-5-cleft. Petals 4-5, emarginate or 2-lobed, usually more
or less convolute. Torus thin, fining the tube of the calyx. Ovary free from
the calyx, not immersed in the torus, 2-4-celled : styles 2-4, distinct or more
or less connected. Fruit drupaceous, confining 2—4 cartilaginous nuts.—
Shrubs or small trees. Leaves alternate or rarely opposite, on short petioles.
Flowers minnte, usually in short axillary clusters.
* Leaves coriaceous, semperoirenl.
1. JR. oleifolius .(Hook.): unarmed, erect; leaves coriaceous, evergreen,
elliptical-oblong, entire, revolute on the margin, glabrous; flowers pentand-
rous, in small axillary crowded panicles ; petals very minute, stigma obscurely
2-lobed; fruit 2-seeded.—Hook. Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 123, t. 44; Hook.
Am. in bot. Beechy, p. 136.
North West Coast, and California, Menzies. Woody plains around St.
Barbara, Nu tta ll!—A shrub 6-12 feet high, the younger branches pubescent.
Leaves about 2 inches long, the veins oblique and rather remote, in
the young state pubescent beneath: petioles 3-4 fines long. Panicles on
short peduncles. Sepals ovate, rather erect. Petals cucullate, partly enclosing
the very short stamens. Anthers ovate-globose. Fruit about as large as
a pea, globose.
2. R. laurifolius (Nutt.! mss.) : “ unarmed, erect; leaves coriaceous,
evergreen, elliptical-oblong, or oblong, somewhat serrate, the veins approximated
; flowers axillary, 2-4 together, on pedicels shorter than the calyx,
ite.trandrous; petals very minute.
“ Near St. Barbara and Monterey, California. A shrub 10-12 feet high.
Considerably allied to the preceding, but very different in the inflorescence
.and foliage ; the leaves are shorter and wider, with 11 or 12 pairs of veins.
In the young state and while flowering, the leaves are nearly glabrous, quite
small and oblong, or oblong-ovate, and the stipules thin and membranace-
oug as well as smooth. In older brownish branches (perhaps a distinct species)
the stipules and young leaves are silky-pubescent. The flowering
branches are white and nearly glabrous. If these two plants should prove
to be distinct species, one of them may retain the present name; and the
other may be called R. leucodermis.”—Nuttall.
3. R. croceus (Nutt.! mss.): “ low and branching, the branches spines-
■cent at the extremity; leaves coriaceous, evergreen, roundish-obovate (small)
nearly glabrous, glandularly denticulate; flowers in axillary clusters; dioecious,
tetrandrous, apetalous; styles exserted, distinct above; fruit obovate, 1-2-
seeded.
“ Bushy hills and thickets around Monterey, California.—A much branched
thorny shrub, with yellow wood ; the whole plant imparting a yellow color to
water. Leaves about half an inch long, lucid, when dry of a bright yellowish
brown beneath: petioles about a line long. Fascicles 2-6-flowered :
pedicels as long as the petioles. Sepals ovate, with one middle and 2 marginal
nerves. Stamens nearly as long as the sepals. Ovary ovate. Styles
•often distinct below the middle. Fruit greenish or yellowish, usually (by
abortion) 1-seeded. Seed with a longitudinal furrow on one side.”—Nuttall.
** Leaves deciduous.
t Flowers tetrandrous.
4. R. catharticus (Linn.): erect; branches thorny at the summit; leaves
ovate, denticulate-serrate; flowers fascicled, polygamous-dioecious, mostly
tetrandrous ; fruit subglobose, 4-seeded.—Eng. bot. t. 1629; Torn < fl 1 <n
263 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 24. . '
Mountains and in woods; in the most retired parts of the Highlands of
New-York, Dr. Barratt ! Near Wilfiamstown, Massachusetts, Dewey!
and about Boston and Salem, Mr. Oakes ! Probably introduced.—A large
shrub, with spreading branches and grayish bark. Leaves fascicled and
somewhat opposite, about l i inch long, nearly glabrous; the larger veins
nearly longitudinal. Pedicels 3-4 fines long. Flowers sometimes triandrous:
sepals at length reflexed. Petals erect, entire. Stamens a little longer than
the calyx. Fruit black, nauseous and cathartic.—Buck-thorn.
5. R. lanceolatus (Pursh): erect, unarmed; leaves oblong, or ovate-lanceolate,
acuminate, acute at the base, serrulate, more or less pubescent beneath
; flowers solitary or 2-3 together, axillary, tetrandrous ; petals minute,
2-lobed, enclosing the stamens 5 styles united 5 stigmas 2, diverging j fruit 2-
seeded, globose-obovate; seed plano-convex, with a deep furrow on the outside.—
Pursh, Jl. 1 p. 166; DC. prodr. 2. p. 27. R. Shortii, Nutt.! in
Jour. acad. Philad. 7. p. 91. Cardiolepis nigra, rubra, & spinosa R a f.
neogen. (1825) no. 2. ’
Cliffs of Kentucky River, Short! Missouri, Baldwin! Tennessee Pursh
May.—A shrub, with smooth grayish bark. Leaves 2-2i inches long’ usually
pubescent beneath, but when old sometimes nearly glabrous : petioles 2-3
lines long. Flowers perfect, on short pedicels at the base of the young
shoots. Petals broad, folded round the short stamens, and partly enclosing
them. Styles exserted, united the greater part of their length distinct and
somewhat recurved above. Fruit as large as a pepper-corn, red or black usually
2-sided.—Our plant does - not exactly agree with Rursh’s description as