Var. (?) oblongifòlia, Torr. & Gray. A smaller tree or shrub (6–10° high), the young leaves and racemes densely white-tomentose; leaves oblong or sometimes rather broadly elliptical, acute, mostly rounded at base, finely serrate, 1–2´ long; flowers in denser and shorter racemes; petals 3–4´´ long, oblong-spatulate; fruit similar but more juicy, on shorter pedicels.—Low moist grounds or swampy woods; N. Brunswick to Va., west to Minn. and Mo.—A form of this with broader leaves (broadly elliptical or rounded), often very obtuse at the summit, and rounded, subcordate or acute at base, and usually coarsely toothed, is common from Manitoba to Minn. and Iowa, and is sometimes cultivated for its fruit.
2. A. oligocárpa, Roem. A low shrub 2–4° high, soon glabrous; leaves thin, oblong, acute at both ends, finely serrate, 1–2´ long; flowers few (1–4), rather long-pedicelled; petals oblong-obovate; fruit broad-pyriform, dark purple with a dense bloom. (A. Canadensis, var. oligocarpa, Torr. & Gray.)—Cold swamps and mountain bogs; Lab. to northern N. Eng. and N. Y., and the shores of Lake Superior.
3. A. alnifòlia, Nutt. A shrub 3–8° high, usually glabrate or nearly so; leaves somewhat glaucous and thickish, broadly elliptical or roundish, very obtuse or rarely acute, often subcordate at base, coarsely toothed toward the summit, ½–2´ long; raceme short and rather dense; petals cuneate-oblong, 3–8´´ long; fruit globose, purple. (A. Canadensis, var. alnifolia, Torr. & Gray.)—A western mountain species, which occurs in Minn. and N. Mich., and which the broad-leaved form of A. Canadensis sometimes closely simulates.
Order 34. CALYCANTHÀCEÆ. (Calycanthus Family.)
Shrubs with opposite entire leaves, no stipules, the sepals and petals similar and indefinite, the anthers adnate and extrorse, and the cotyledons convolute; the fruit like a rose-hip. Chiefly represented by the genus
1. CALYCÁNTHUS, L. Carolina Allspice. Sweet-Scented Shrub.
Calyx of many sepals, united below into a fleshy inversely conical cup (with some leaf-like bractlets growing from it); the lobes lanceolate, mostly colored like the petals, which are similar, in many rows, thickish, inserted on the top of the closed calyx-tube. Stamens numerous, inserted just within the petals, short; some of the inner ones sterile (destitute of anthers). Pistils several or many, enclosed in the calyx-tube, inserted on its base and inner face, resembling those of the Rose; but the enlarged hip dry when ripe, enclosing the achenes.—The lurid purple flowers terminating the leafy branches. Bark and foliage aromatic; the crushed flowers exhaling more or less the fragrance of strawberries. (Name composed of κάλυξ, a cup or calyx, and άνθος, flower, from the closed cup which contains the pistils.)
1. C. flóridus, L. Leaves oval, soft-downy underneath.—Virginia(?) and southward, on hillsides in rich soil. Common in gardens. April–Aug.
2. C. lævigàtus, Willd. Leaves oblong, thin, either blunt or taper-pointed, bright green and glabrous or nearly so on both sides, or rather pale beneath; flowers smaller.—Mountains of Franklin Co., Penn. (Prof. Porter), and southward along the Alleghanies. May–Aug.
3. C. glaùcus, Willd. Leaves oblong-ovate or ovate-lanceolate, conspicuously taper-pointed, glaucous-white beneath, roughish above, glabrous, large (4–7´ long), probably a variety of the preceding.—Virginia (?) near the mountains and southward. May–Aug.