234 CELASTRACEAE. 



rarely yellow or rose-colored; calyx small, 5-parted; petals 5; 

 stamens 5; fruit drupe-like; ovule basal. 



Rhus diversiloba T. & G. Poison Oak. Shrub with erect stems 1-2 m. 

 high or under favorable circumstances clinging upon trees up to 3-8 m.; 

 leaves 3-folio!ate; leaflets oblong to obovate, obtuse, mostly coarsely toothed, 

 rarely entire or pinnatifid, 27 cm. long; flowers green, in small loose axillary 

 panicles, usually shorter than the leaves; drupes white, globose, about 5 mm. 

 in diameter. 



Common in gravelly or rocky soil. 



Family 58. CELASTRACEAE. STAFFTREE FAMILY. 



Shrubs, often climbing; leaves simple and undivided, alternate 

 or opposite; stipules none or small and early withering; flowers 

 regular, usually perfect, small; pedicels commonly jointed; 

 calyx 4- or 5-lobed, the lobes imbricated ; petals 4 or 5, spreading: 

 stamens 4 or 5, perigynous on a disk, alternate with the petals; 

 ovary sessile, free from or confluent with the disk; fruit a some- 

 what fleshy dehiscent pod ; endosperm fleshy. 



Deciduous shrub; flowers 5-merous. 310. EUONYMUS, 234. 



Evergreen shrub; flowers 4-merous. 311. PACHISTIMA, 234. 



310. EUONYMUS. 



Deciduous shrubs with 4-sided branchlets and opposite serrate 

 leaves; flowers small, on axillary peduncles, in loose cymes, 

 perfect, 5-merous (in ours); stamens short; style short or none; 

 pod 3-5-lobed, 3-5-valved; seeds 1-4 in each cell. 



Euonymus occidentalis Nutt. Glabrous shrub, 2-5 m. high, the slender 

 branches pale green; leaves ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, mostly acute at base, 

 acute or acuminate, serrulate, 5-10 cm. long, on petioles 4-10 mm. long; 

 peduncles 5 cm. long, 1-4-flowered; flowers 5-merous, dark purple, about 

 10 mm. broad; fruit smooth. 



In deep woods along streams; Clarke County, Washington, and southward. 



311. PACHISTIMA. 



Low evergreen shrubs; leaves opposite, smooth, serrulate, 

 coriaceous; flowers perfect, very small, green or purplish, solitary 

 or fascicled in the axils; calyx-lobes 4, broad; petals 4; stamens 4, 

 on the edge of the disk; style very short; ovary free; pod small, 

 oblong, 2-celled; seeds 1 or 2, enclosed in a white membranous 

 many-cleft aril. 



Pachistima myrsinites (Pursh) Raf. Evergreen glabrous shrub, much 

 branched, 30-60 cm. high; leaves oblong, lanceolate or obovate, acute or obtuse, 

 cuneate at base, serrulate, nearly sessile, 1-3 cm. long, the margin somewhat 

 revolute; flowers yellowish or purplish, 3 mm. broad; peduncles and pedicels 

 short, 2-3 mm. long; capsule oblong, acute, 5-6 mm. long. 



In woods, especially in the mountains but occurring at sea level along 

 Pugct Sound. 



