ACERACEAE. 



VOL. II 



ii. Acer Negundo L. Box Elder. Ash-leaved or 

 Cut-leaved Maple. Water Ash. Fig. 2814. 



Acer Negundo L. Sp. PI. 1056. 1753. 

 Negundo aceroidcs Moench, Meth. 334. 1794. 

 Negundo Negundo Karst. Deutsch. Fl. 596. 1880-83. 



A tree with maximum height of 6o-7o and trunk diam- 

 eter of 2-3J. Leaves pinnately 3-5-foliolate; leaflets 

 ovate or oval, thin, pubescent when young, nearly glabrous 

 or pubescent when old, 2'-s' long, i'-3' wide dentate, 

 slightly lobed or sometimes entire, acute or acuminate at 

 the apex, rounded, or the terminal one somewhat cuneate 

 at the base ; flowers dioecious, drooping, very small, ap- 

 pearing a little before the leaves; samaras glabrous, i'-ii' 

 long, the broad wing finely veined, the united portion con- 

 stricted at the base. 



Along streams, Maine and Ontario to Manitoba, south to 

 Florida, Texas and Mexico. Rare near the Atlantic Coast. 

 Wood soft, weak, white ; weight per cubic foot 27 Ibs. Used 

 for woodenware and paper pulp. Sugar maple. Red river, 

 maple. Black or maple-ash. April. 



Acer interior Britton, Western ash-leaved maple, of the Rocky Mountain region, and found in 

 western Kansas and Nebraska, has thicker leaves, the united portions of the samaras not con- 

 stricted at the base. 



Family 80. AESCULACEAE Lindley, Orb. Diet, i: 155. 1841. 



BUCKEYE FAMILY. 



Trees or shrubs, with opposite petioled digitately 3-0,-foliclate leaves, and 

 conspicuous polygamous irregular flowers in terminal panicles, the bark unpleas- 

 antly odorous. Calyx tubular or campanulate, 5-lobed or 5-cleft in the following 

 genus, the lobes unequal. Petals 4-5, unequal, clawed. Disk entire, often i-sided. 

 Stamens 5-8; filaments elongated. Ovary sessile, 3-celled; ovules 2 in each 

 cavity; style slender. Capsule leathery, globose or slightly 3-lobed, smooth or 

 spiny, 3-celled or by abortion i-2-celled, and often only i -celled. Seeds large, 

 shining ; cotyledons very thick. 



The family consists of the following genus, containing about 15 species, of North America and 

 Asia, and Billia, of Mexico, which differs from Aesculus in having distinct sepals. 



i. AESCULUS L. Sp. PI. 344. 1753. 



Characters of the family. [Ancient name.] Type species: Ae. Hippocastanum L. 

 Capsules spiny, at least when young ; stamens cxserted. 



Flowers white, mottled with yellow and purple; introduced. i. Ae. Hippocastanum. 



Flowers yellow or greenish-yellow ; native. 



A tree ; leaflets 5-7, pubescent. 2. Ae. glabra. 



A shrub; leaflets 7-9, glabrate. 3. Ae. arguta. 



Capsule glabrous ; stamens scarcely exceeding the petals. 



Corolla yellow, greenish or purplish ; calyx oblong ; a large tree. 4. Ae. octandra. 



Corolla red ; calyx tubular ; shrubs or small trees. 5. Ae. Pavia. 



i. Aesculus Hippocastanum L. Horse- 

 chestnut. Fig. 2815. 



Aesculus Hippocastanum L. Sp. PI. 344. 1753. 



A large tree, reaching a maximum height of about 

 100 and a trunk diameter of 6, the buds very res- 

 inous. Leaves long-petioled, pubescent when young, 

 glabrate when mature, or with persistent tufts of 

 hairs in the axils of the veins on the lower surface; 

 leaflets 5-7 (occasionally only 3 on some leaves), 

 obovate, 4'-8' long, abruptly acuminate at the apex, 

 cuneate-narrowed to the base, irreguarly crenulate- 

 dentate; petals 5, spreading, white, blotched with 

 red and yellow, inflorescence rather dense, often i 

 long, the pedicels and calyx canescent; stamens de- 

 clined, exserted; fruit globose, prickly. 



Escaped from cultivation, New England, New York 



and New Jersey. Native of Asia. Called also Bongay, 



and the fruit, in children's games, Conquerors. Lambs. 

 June-July. 



