PETIVERIACEAE 403 



3 mm. long, pubescent below the middle, erect in the whitish clamp-like involucel : sepals 

 linear-subulate, acutish, erect, slightly involute : stamens included : style about equalling 

 the sepals in length : utricle ovoid, tipped by the slender style : seed lenticular, about 1 

 ram. broad. 



In sandy soil and on sand hills, southwestern Georgia and adjacent Florida. Summer and fall. 



Family 5. PETIVERIACEAE Link. Pokeweed Family. 



Shrubs, trees or shrubby herbs, often giving off an uuiDleasant odor. Leaves 

 alternate : blades entire, or nearly so, often thickish. Inflorescence terminal or 

 axillary, spicate or racemose. Flowers perfect or dioecious. Calyx of 4-5 equal 

 or unequal, distinct or partially united imbricated sepals. Corolla wanting. 

 Androecium of 4-8 stamens or rarely more. Filaments filiform or subulate, dis- 

 tinct or united. Anthers introrse. Gynoecium of a single carpel or of several 

 united carpels. Ovary 1-several-celled, sessile. Stigmas various. Ovule soli- 

 tary in each cavity, mostly erect. Fruit a berry or an achene. Seed usually 

 erect, flattened. Te.sta membranous or crustaceous. Embryo curved around 

 the mealy endosperm, or rarely straight. \_Phytolaccaceae Lindl.] 



Gynoecium of a single carpel : style single. 



Fruit an achene : flowers in virgate spikes. 1. Petiveria. 



Fruit a berry : flowers in racemes. 2. Rivina 



Gynoecium of 2-many carpels: styles 2-many. 3. Phytolacca- 



1. PETIVERIA L. 



Strong-scented shrubby plants, with erect stems. Leaves alternate : blades thickish, 

 stipules small. Flowers perfect, in terminal wand-like spikes. Calyx herbaceous, short- 

 pedicelled, the 4 sepals nearly equal, persistent and unchanged in fruit. Stamens 4-8 : 

 filaments filiform, unequal in length : anthers linear. Ovary 1-celled, elongated, flattened : 

 stigma 2-lobed. Ovule amphitropous. Achene narrow, cuneate, surrounded by the per- 

 sistent sei^als, tipped with 1-6 subulate reflexed spines. Seed narrow, erect, with a mem- 

 branous testa. Embryo nearly straight. 



1. Petiveria alli^cea L. An ill-smelling shrub 3-10 dm. tall with wand-like branches. 

 Stems erect, closely pubescent : leaf-blades elliptic, elliptic-oblanceolate or obovate, 4-12 

 cm. long, usually acute or abruptly acuminate, entire, undulate, sparingly pubescent on 

 both sides or only hairy on the nerves, narrowed into short petioles : spikes virgate, 1-3 

 dm. long, solitary or in pairs : calyx greenish or white, short-pedicelled : sepals linear, 

 about 3 mm. long, obtusish, spreading in flower, erect in fruit : stamens shorter than the 

 sepals : achenes linear-cuneate, ribbed, about 6 mm. long, twice as long as the persistent 

 calyx, furnished with 1-6 retiexed spines at the apex, appressed to the rachis. 



In woods and thickets, peninsular Florida. Common in tropical America. Summer. 



2. RIVINA L. 



Glabrous or pubescent shrubby herbs, with erect branching stems. Leaves alternate : 

 blades entire, undulate, or erose-crenate, with small caducous stipules. Flowers perfect, in 

 slender, axillary or rarely terminal racemes. Calyx corolloid. Sepals 4, about equal, usu- 

 ally broadened upward, unchanged in fruit. Stamens 4 : filaments filiform : anthers erect. 

 Ovary 1-celled, subglobose, flattened : style rather lateral, curved : stigma capitate or 2- 

 lobed. Ovules amphitropous. Berry subglobose, flattened, with a thin fleshy pericarp. 

 Seed erect, lenticular, with a smooth or wrinkled crustaceous testa. Embryo bent around 

 the scant mealy endosperm. 



1. Rivina hijinilis L. A shrubby herb, 3-7 dm. tall, with spreading branches and 

 closely pubescent foliage. Leaf-blades thickish, ovate to lanceolate or oblong, 3-15 cm. 

 long, acute or usually acuminate, undulate, acutish at the base, or truncate ; petioles about 

 i as long as the blades : racemes loosely flowered, 3 10 cm. long, peduncled : calyx rose- 

 colored, 5-6 mm. broad, pubescent without : sepals cimeate or linear-cuneate, spreading, 

 obtuse, more or less eroded at the apex : stamens erect or ascending, shorter than the 

 sepals: berries subglobose, somewhat flattened, 2-3.5 mm. in diameter, mostly red. 



In woods and thickets, Arkansas to Florida and Texas. Also a native of the tropics. Spring and 

 summer. 



