7. ANDRÓMEDA, L.
Calyx without bractlets, of 5 nearly or partly distinct sepals, valvate in the bud, but very soon separate or open. Corolla urceolate (in ours), 5-toothed. Stamens 10; anthers fixed near the middle, the cells opening by a terminal pore. Capsule globular, 5-celled, 5-valved; the many-seeded placentæ borne on the summit or middle of the columella. Seeds pendulous or spreading.—Shrubs, with umbelled, clustered, or panicled and racemed (mostly white) flowers. (Fancifully named by Linnæus in allusion to the fable of Andromeda.)
[*] Anthers awned; capsule more or less globose; leaves thick and evergreen.
1. A. polifòlia, L. Glabrous, 6–18´ high; leaves linear to lanceolate-oblong, strongly revolute, white beneath; flowers in terminal umbels; pedicels from axils of persistent scaly bracts; each anther-cell with a slender terminal ascending awn.—Wet bogs, N. J. and Penn. to Minn., and northward.
2. A. floribúnda, Pursh. Very leafy, 2–6° high; young branchlets, etc., strigose-hairy; leaves lanceolate-oblong, acute or acuminate, ciliate-serrulate, glandular-dotted beneath (2´ long); racemes crowded in short terminal panicles, densely flowered; each anther-cell with a slender deflexed awn on the back.—Moist hillsides, in the Alleghanies from Va. to Ga.
[*][*] Anthers awnless; capsule 5-angled, with a thickened ridge at the dorsal sutures; leaves thinnish and deciduous.
3. A. Mariàna, L. (Stagger-bush.) Mostly glabrous, 2–4° high; leaves oblong or oval (1–3´ long); fascicles of nodding flowers racemose on naked shoots; filaments 2-toothed near the apex; capsule ovate-pyramidal, truncate at the contracted apex.—Low grounds, R. I. to Fla.; also in Tenn. and Ark. Foliage said to poison lambs and calves.
4. A. ligustrìna, Muhl. Minutely pubescent, 3–10° high; leaves obovate to lanceolate-oblong (1–2´ long), serrulate or entire; racemes crowded in naked or leafy panicles; filaments flat, not appendaged; capsule globular.—Wet grounds, Canada to Fla. and Ark.—Var. pubéscens, Gray, is a form with dense soft pubescence.—Va. to Ga.
8. OXYDÉNDRUM, DC. Sorrel-tree. Sour-wood.
Calyx without bractlets, of 5 almost distinct sepals, valvate in the bud. Corolla ovate, 5-toothed, puberulent. Stamens 10; anthers fixed near the base, linear, awnless, the cells tapering upward and opening by a long chink. Capsule oblong-pyramidal, 5-celled, 5-valved; the many-seeded placentæ at the base of the cells. Seeds all ascending, slender, the thin and loose reticulated coat extended at both ends into awl-shaped appendages.—A tree with deciduous, oblong-lanceolate, pointed, soon smooth, serrulate leaves, on slender petioles, and white flowers in long one-sided racemes clustered in an open panicle, terminating the branches of the season. Bracts and bractlets minute, deciduous. Foliage acid (whence the name, from ὀξύς, sour, and δένδρον, tree.)