434 FLORA. 



Family 7. MENISPERMACEAE DC. 

 Aloonseed Family. 



Vines with alternate entire or lobed leaves, no stipules, and small 

 dioecious panicled racemose or cymose flowers. Sepals 4-12. Petals 6, 

 imbricated in 2 rows, sometimes fewer, or none. Stamens about the 

 same number as the petals. Carpels 3-00 (generally 6), i-ovuled sepa- 

 rate ; styles commonly recurved. Fruit drupaceous. Embryo long, 

 curved. About 55 genera and 150 species, mainly of tropical distribu- 

 tion, a few extending into the temperate zones. 



Petals none. i. Calycocarpum. 

 Petals present. 



Stamens 6 ; drupe red. 2. Cebatha. 



Stamens i2-many ; drupe black. 3. Menispermum. 



x. CALYCOCARPUM Nutt. 



Leaves large, petioled, palmately lobed. Flowers greenish in long narrow- 

 drooping panicles. Sepals 6, oblong, obtuse. Stamens about 12, nearly equalling 

 the sepals; anthers 2-celled. Pistils 3; stigma laciniate. Drupe oval, the stone 

 flattened and hollowed out on one side. [Greek, cup-fruit, in allusion to the cup- 

 like stone.] A monotypic genus of eastern N. Am. 



I. Calycocarpum Lyoni (Pursh) Nutt. CUP-SEED. (I. F. f. 1647.) Climb- 

 ing to the tops of trees, glabrous or slightly pubescent. Leaves thin, broadly 

 ovate or nearly orbicular in outline, 1-2 dm. long, cordate with a broad sinus, 

 5-7-lobed, glabrous above, more or less pubescent on the veins beneath; lobes 

 ovate or oblong, acute or acuminate, repand, dentate or entire; panicles axillary, 

 1-2.5 dm. long; flowers 4 mm. broad; drupe nearly 2.5 cm. long, black, the stone 

 toothed or erose along the margin of its lateral cavity ; pistillate flowers sometimes 

 containing abortive stamens. In rich woods. 111. to Mo., Kans., Fla. and Tex. 

 May-June, the fruit ripe in August. 



2. CEBATHA Forsk. 



Flowers small, dioecious, panicled. Sepals 6, in two series. Petals 6, shorter 

 than the sepals, concave. Stamens 6; anthers 4-celled or 4-lobed. Pistils 3-6, 

 sometimes accompanied by sterile filaments; styles erect; stigma entire. Drupe 

 globose or ovoid, the stone flattened, curved. [Name Arabic.] About 10 species, 

 mainly of tropical regions, two or three in the temperate zones. 



I. Cebatha Carolina (L. ) Britton. CAROLINA MOONSEED. (I. F. f. 1648.) 

 Trailing or climbing, the stem glabrous or pubescent. Leaves broadly ovate, 5-10 

 cm. long, cordate or rounded at the base, entire or lobed, sometimes densely pu- 

 bescent beneath, mainly glabrous above; petioles 2-10 cm. iong; panicles loose, 

 2-13 cm. long; flowers about 2 mm. broad; drupe red, laterally flattened, 4-6 mm. 

 in diameter, the stone curved into a closed spiral, crested on the sides and back. 

 Along streams, Va. to 111., Kans., Fla. and Tex. June- Aug. 



3. MENISPERMUM L. 



Flowers small, panicled. Sepals 4-8, in two series, longer than the 6-8 petals. 

 Stamens 12-24. Anthers 4-celled. Pistils 2-4, on a slightly elevated receptacle, 

 generally accompanied by 6 sterile filaments. Drupe nearly globular, or ovoid, 

 laterally flattened, the stone curved into a spiral and crested on the sides and back. 

 [Greek, moonseed.] Two species, one of eastern N. Am., the other of eastern 

 Asia. 



i. Menispermum Canadense L. CANADA MOONSEED. (I. F. f. 1649.) 

 Stem slender, slightly pubescent, or glabrous. Leaves slender-petioled, broadly 

 ovate, 1-2 dm. wide, cordate or sometimes nearly truncate at base, entire, or with 

 3-7 lobes, pale beneath, peltate near the base; flowers greenish white, 4 mm. 

 wide; panicles loose, bracteolate; drupe bluish black, globose -oblong, 6-8 mm. in 

 diameter. In woods, Quebec to Manitoba, Ga. and Ark. June-July. 



