490 CAPPAEIDACEAE 



5. CLEOMELLA DC. 



Glabrous herbs, with odd-shaped capsules. Leaves alternate, without stipules : blades 

 3-foliolate, petioled : leaflets narrow, usually petiolulate. Flowers small, yellow, regular 

 or nearly so, in terminal leafy-bracted racemes. Sepals 4, thin, distinct, imbricated, de- 

 ciduous. Receptacle elongated, without an appendage. Petals 4, hypogynous, entire, 

 sessile, deciduous. Stamens 6, inserted on the top of the receptacle : filaments filiform, 

 equal, distinct. Ovary ovoid, 1-celled, long-stalked : style wanting : stigma blunt. Ovules 

 4-8, usually 2 above the middle of each placenta, amphitropous, becoming campylotropous. 

 Capsule short, thicker than broad, inflated, long-stalked, with 2 helmet-like valves. Seeds 

 usually 2 on each placenta, pendulous, conduplicate, the crustaceous testa rugose. 



1. Cleomella angustifolia Torr. Annual, slender, glabrous. Stem 2-7 dm. tall, 

 brandling, often reddish : leaves alternate ; blades 3-foliolate ; petioles shorter than the 

 leaflets ; leaflets 1-4 cm. long, with entire, acute or apiculate blades : racemes 3-10 cm. 

 long : bracts iniifoliolate, linear : sepals ovate, 2 mm. long, acuminate : petals oblong, 

 obtuse, concave : filaments shorter than the petals or equalling them in length : anthers 

 acute, about 8 mm. broad : capsule rhomboidal, commonly broader than long, the two 

 valves conic or cap-like, the stipe shorter than the pedicel : seeds 3 mm. long, papillose. 



In dry soil, Nebraska to Colorado, Texas and New Mexico. Summer. 



6. CLEOME L. 



Glabrous or glandular herbs, sometimes slightly woody. Leaves alternate : blades 

 palmately 3-7-foliolate, or rarely simple, petioled. Flowers nearly regular, solitary or in 

 terminal leafy-bracted racemes, white, yellow or purple. Sepals 4, valvate, nearly dis- 

 tinct or more or less united, sometimes rather persistent. Keceptacle elevated, with an 

 appendage opposite the upper sepal. Petals 4, hypogynous, nearly equal, narrowed into 

 short claws, convolutely imbricated. Stamens 6 or rarely 4, inserted on top of the recep- 

 tacle : filaments filiform, distinct, unequal, more or less declined. Ovary 1-celled, more 

 or less stalked : style wanting or nearly so : stigma blnnt. Ovules numerous, campylotro- 

 pous. Capsule elongated, silique-like, flattened, 2-valved. Seeds usually numerous, pen- 

 dulous, condujilicate. 



1. Cieome spinosa L. Annual, bi-ight green, clammy-pubescent. Stem erect, 3-9 

 dm. tall, simple or branched: leaves alternate; blades palmately o-7-folioIate ; petioles 

 longer than the leaflets, commonly with stipular spines ; leaflets with elliptic to obovate 

 or rarely oblanceolate blades 2-10 cm. long, acute or acuminate at both ends, entire, 

 sessile : racemes 1-3 dm. long, leafy below, bracted above : bracts ovate to lanceolate, 

 truncate to cordate at the base : sepals linear-lanceolate, 5-10 mm. long : petals purple or 

 rarely white, 2.5-3.5 cm. long; blades suborbicular to oval, shorter than the claws: 

 stamens 2-3 times longer than the blades : capsule linear, 6-10 cm. long, usually about as 

 long as the stipe, much longer than the pedicel : seeds pale, finely reticulated. 



In waste places, New Jersey to Illinois, south to Florida and Texas. Summer. Spider Flower. 



7. CAPPARIS L. 



Glabrous pubescent or scurfy shrubs or trees, with an acrid often pungent watery sap. 

 Stems erect, climbing or prostrate. Leaves alternate, or rarely opposite, very rarely want- 

 ing : blades simple, entire, membranous or leathery : stipules bristle-like or spiny. 

 Flowers white, regular or irregular, axillary or nearly so, sometimes in terminal cymes or 

 racemes. Sepals 4 or rarely 5, distinct or united at the base, valvate or imbricated, naked 

 or with a gland or ligule within. Petals 4 or rarely more, imbricated, inserted on the 

 base of the sliort unappendaged receptacle. Stamens numerous, inserted on the recep- 

 tacle, in several series : filaments filiform, distinct. Ovary 1-4-celled, long-stalked, with 

 2 parietal placentae : style wanting : stigma depressed. Berry or capsule more or less|]elon- 

 gated, stalked, indehiscent or rarely opening irregularly. Seeds usually numerous, reni- 

 form, immersed in a pulp, with a leathery or crustaceous testa. 



Foliage glabrous : leaf-blades reticulated : sepals imbricated : capsule glabrous. 1. C. cynophallnphora. 

 Foliage densely scaly : leaf-blades not reticulated : sepals valvate : capsule scaly. 2. C. Jamaicensis. 



1. Capparis cynophalldphora L. A glabrous shrub or small tree sometimes several 

 m. tall. Leaf-blades oblong or oblong-cuneate, 5-8 cm. long, abruptly pointed, obtuse or 

 notched at the apex, entire, reticulated on both sides ; petioles stout, 2-6 ram. long : 

 flowers white, 5.5-7.5 cm. broad, few in a cluster : sepals suborbicular, 6-8 mm. in diameter. 



