ft BUCKTHORN FAMILY. 



-- - Burl: n f stem close and smooth, pale. 



V. vulpina, Mi SCADIM,, l'.n.i.\( K, or l-'ox-(iu.\PE of the South. River- 



hanks t'nuii Maryland and Kentucky S. : leaves railicr small, round iu outline, 

 seldom and slightly lobed, glossy and mo.-tly smooth both sides, tin- mar-in cut 

 into coai" and broad teeth; clusters small; fruit lar^c, '-ij' in diameter, 

 ])iir|)lc, thie.v --I;' incd, musky, or p!ea-ant-tlavored, ripe in early autumn : the 

 original of the .SCCI'PKKNO.NG GKAIM-:, &e. 



2. ClSSUS. Petals and stamens 4 or 5, tin' f'oninr "/miini/ rn/nl/ir/y : (lisle 

 tliifl: i mil I 'I'm i, I, 4 - :)-/ul>ul : jl<'"'< rs must It/ /n r/l <! : In rriis nut /an/er than 

 /<is, tint i-ntuJi/e. 



* \ Vilil Species S. Sf W., smooth, nsnalli/ irilh .") stiiiinns ii/nl /n tills. 



V. indivlsa, a species with simple leaves like those of a true (irapc, heart- 

 shaped or ovate, pointed, coarsely-toothed, but not lobed ; flower-clusters small 

 and loose ; style -.lender. 



V. bipinnata, a bushy or low-climbing plant, with lew tendrils, and de- 

 compound leaves, the small leaflets cut-toothed. 



* * Exotic species, icit/i iiiosl/i/ 4 s/unn us antl 



V. heterophylla, from Japan, a form \\ith the leaves blotched or varie- 



gated with white (small, thin, variouslv :\ - 5-lobed), and small blue berries, is 

 hardy in gardens ; cult, for the variegated foliage. 



V. discolor, from .lava, cult, in hothouses, for its splendid foliage ; leaves 

 lance-oblong with a heart-shaped base, crimson underneath, veh el \ -lustrous 

 and dark-green shaded with purple or violet, or often mottled with white, on the 

 upper surface, the shoots reddish. 



2. AMPELOPSIS, VIKOIXIA-CMIKKPKK. (Xame from Greek words, 

 meaning lib- tin- Vine: indeed, it is hardly distinct enough from the second 

 section of Vilis.) 



A. quinquef61ia, the only irenuine speeies : in all low grounds, climbing 

 cxten>ively, -ometimes by rootlets as well as by the tendrils, the latter specially 

 fitted for ascending walls and trunks, to which they attach themselves firmly by 

 sucker-like disks at the tip of their branches (Lessons, p. 41, li^s. 93, 94) ; leaf- 

 lets 5, digitate, lance-oblong, cut-toothed, chan.u-'m^ to crimson in autumn ; 

 flowers cymosc, in summer ; berries small, black or bluish. 



33. RHAMNACE^l, BUCKTHORN FAMILY. 



Shrubs or trees, of bitterish and astringent properties, with simpk 

 chielly alternate leaves and small flowers ; well marked by the sta- 

 mens of (lie number of the valvatc sepals (4 or .'>) and alternate 

 with them, i. e. opposite the petals, inserted on a disk which lines 

 the calyx-tube and often unites it with the base of the ovary, this 

 having a single erect ovule in each of the (2-5) cells. Branches 

 often thorny: stipules rn'nutc or none: flowers often apetalous or 

 polygamous. Petals commonly hooded or involute around the sta- 

 men before it. (Lessons, p. 114, lig. '>('<[, 3Go.) 



Calyx free from tlie ovary. 



1. BKHCIIKMIA. Twining climbers, with ^tvaiu'lit-veiued loaves. Petals 5, with- 



out claws, rather lunger than the stamen-. I>i>k thick, nearly filling the bot- 

 tom of the calyx. Ovary 2-celled, becoming a 2-eelled small stone-fruit, with 

 purple and thi'n pulp. 



2. RIIA.MM'S. Krect shrubs or trees, with luoM'ly-veined leaves. Petals 4 or 5. 



with short claws. Stamens short. Ovary 2 - 4-celled, becoming a black 

 berry-like fruit, containing 2-4 cartilaginous s ..... l-like nutlets, which are 

 grooved on the hack, as is the contained seed. Cotyledons foliaccnus. 



3. FnANGULA. I.iko IJhamnus, but with straight-veined leaves; the nutlet* 



not grooved but convex on the back: cotyledons thick. 



