Tribe II. SYMPLOCINEÆ. Calyx 5-cleft, imbricate. Stamens in several series; anthers short, innate. Embryo terete. Flowers yellow. Pubescence simple.
3. Symplocos. Calyx coherent. Petals 5, united merely at the base.
1. STỲRAX, Tourn. Storax.
Calyx truncate, somewhat 5-toothed, the base (in our species) coherent with the base of the 3-celled many-ovuled ovary. Corolla 5-parted (rarely 4–8-parted), large, the lobes mostly soft-downy. Stamens twice as many as the lobes of the corolla; filaments flat, united at the base into a short tube; anthers linear, adnate. Fruit globular, its base surrounded by the persistent calyx, 1-celled, mostly 1-seeded, dry, often 3-valved. Seed globular, erect, with a hard coat.—Shrubs or small trees, with commonly deciduous leaves, and axillary or leafy-racemed white and showy flowers on drooping peduncles; produced in spring. Pubescence scurfy or stellate. (The ancient Greek name of the tree which produces storax.)
1. S. grandifòlia, Ait. Shrub 4–12° high; leaves obovate, acute or pointed, white-tomentose beneath (3–6´ long); flowers mostly in elongated racemes; corolla ({1/3}´ long) convolute-imbricated in bud.—Woods, S. Va. to Fla.
2. S. pulverulénta, Michx. Shrub 1–4° high; leaves oval or obovate (1 or 2´ long), above sparingly puberulent, and scurfy-tomentose beneath; flowers (½´ long) 1–3 together in the axils and at the tips of the branches, fragrant.—Low pine barrens, S. Va. to Fla. and Tex.
3. S. Americàna, Lam. Shrub 4–8° high; leaves oblong, acute at both ends (1–3´ long), smooth, or barely pulverulent beneath; flowers axillary or in 3–4-flowered racemes (½´ long); corolla valvate in the bud.—Along streams, Va. to Fla., La., and Ark.
2. HALÈSIA, Ellis. Snowdrop or Silver-bell-Tree.
Calyx inversely conical, 4-toothed; the tube 4-ribbed, coherent with the 2–4-celled ovary. Petals 4, united at base, or oftener to the middle, into an open bell-shaped corolla, convolute or imbricated in the bud. Stamens 8–16; filaments united into a ring at base, and usually a little coherent with the base of the corolla; anthers linear-oblong. Ovules 4 in each cell. Fruit large and dry, 2–4-winged, within bony and 1–4-celled. Seeds single, cylindrical.—Shrubs or small trees, with large and veiny pointed deciduous leaves, and showy white flowers, drooping on slender pedicels, in clusters or short racemes, from axillary buds of the preceding year. Pubescence partly stellate. (Named for Stephen Hales, author of Vegetable Statics, &c.)
1. H. tetráptera, L. Leaves oblong-ovate; fruit 4-winged, 1½´ long.—Banks of streams, W. Va. to Ill., south to Fla.