676 KUTACEAE 



leathery, obovate to cimeate or oblong with a cuneate base, rounded or notched at the 

 apex, more or less revolute, somewhat lustrous above : cymes corymb-like, the branches oc- 

 casionally with scattered hairs : pedicels stout : calyx minute : sepals reniform or ovate- 

 reniform, barely 0.5 mm. long, obtuse: petals oval or oblong, 2-3 mm. long : stamens 3 : 

 filaments longer than the anthers : carpels 4-5 mm. long. IXanthoxylum coriacea A. Rich.] 



Along or near the coast, southern peninsular Florida and the K«ys. Also in the West Indies. 

 Spring and summer. 



5. HBLIETTA Tulasne. 



Evergreen shrubs or small trees, with terete branches. Leaves mostly opposite : blades 

 3-foliolate : leaflets with entire glandular-punctate blades. Flowers mostly perfect, in 

 axillary or terminal panicled cymes. Sepals 3-4, imbricated. Petals 3-4, elongated, 

 spreading, imbricated. Disk cup-like. Stamens 3-4 : filaments somewhat flattened, gla- 

 brous. Ovary 3-4-celled, depressed, 3-4-lobed : styles united : stigma 3-4-lobed. Ovules 

 2 in each cavity, side by side. Fruit a cluster of 3-4 samaras, the membranous wing pro- 

 jecting from the back. Seeds narrow. Baeetta. 



1. Helietta parviflora Benth. An evergreen glabrous shrub, or a small tree, reaching 

 a height of 8 m., the trunk clothed with a scaly bark. Petioles grooved : leaflets 3, the 

 blades leathery, spatulate or the lateral ones obovate or oblong, all obtuse or notched at 

 the apex, 1-4 cm. long, sessile : panicles 2-5 cm. high : pedicels 1-4 mm. long : calyx 1.5 

 mm. broad : sepals ovate, acutish, erect : petals thick, oblong, 2.5 mm. long, obtuse, 

 slightly crisped, spreading : stamens shorter than the petals : filaments subulate, glabrous : 

 ovary depressed-ovoid : samaras 3—4, firm, 1-1.5 cm. long : seed nearly oblong. 



On bluffs along the Rio Grande, Texas and Mexico. Spring and summer. 



6. PTBLEA L. 



Unarmed shrubs or small trees, with an aromatic bark and foliage. Leaves alternate : 

 blades 3-foliolate, or rarely pinnately 5-foliolate : leaflets with entire or toothed, pellucid- 

 punctate blades. Flowers polygamous, greenish yellow, in corymbose or panicled cymes. 

 Sepals 4-5, imbricated. Petals 4-5, imbricated, surpassing the sepals. Stamens 4-5, ab- 

 ortive in the pistillate flowers : filaments stout, pubescent. Ovary 2-3-celled, flattened : 

 styles united : stigma 2-3-lobed. Ovules 2 in each cavity, superposed. Samara mem- 

 branous, reticulated, 2-3-winged all around, indehiscent. Seeds solitary in each cavity. 

 Shrubby Trefoil. Hop-tree. Whahoo. Water Ash. 



Parts of the flowers usually in 5's. 



Filamentsslightly pubescent at the middle: petals glabrous within : Floridian. 1. P. Baldwinii. 

 Filaments pubescent throughout : petals pubescent within : Texano-Mexican. 2. P. angustifolia. 

 Parts of the flowers usually in 4's. 

 Samaras obovate. 



Leaflets with sharply serrate blades : samaras 16-19 mm. long, acute at the 



base, the body merely glandular dotted. 3. P. serrata. 



Leaflets with entire or merely undulate blades: samaras 8-11 mm. long, 



or rarely larger rounded or truncate at the base, the body pitted. 4. P. microcarpa. 



Samaras suborbicular. 



Leaflets with entire or merely crenulate blades, the terminal one much 



longer than broad, acute or slightly acuminate. 5. P. ttifoKata. 



Leaflets with crenate or crenate-lobed blades, the terminal one only slightly 

 longer than broad, blunt. 

 Leaflets not lustrous : filaments nearly glabrous : anthers rounded or retuse 



at the apex. 6. P. rhomhifolia. 



Leaflets lustrous above : filaments densely fpubescent below : anthers 



apiculate. 7. P. Toxicodendron, 



1. Ptelea Bald-winli T. & G. An almost glabrous shrub about 3 dm. tall, with 

 irregularly branched stems. Leaflets 3, the blades oval or ovate, 1-2 cm. long, obtuse at 

 both ends, or the terminal one cuneate at the base, sessile, glabrous except tlie midrib and 

 the ciliate margin when young : panicles few-flowered : calyx 1.5 mm. broad : sepals oval, 

 less than 1 mm. long, acutish, ascending : petals 4, oblong-oblanceolate, 4 mm. long, ob- 

 tuse, undulate : stamens shorter than the petals : filaments stout, hairy at the middle. 



In the vicinity of St. Johns, eastern Florida. Spring. 



2. Ptelea angustifolia Benth. A little-known species, originally described from 

 Mexico, with pubescent foliage, wholly pubescent filaments and the petals hairy on both 

 sides : 



Is said to occur in southern and western Texas. 



