celastrace-?:. 90 celastru?. 



and flowers. It is a native of the north of Asia, but is now known throughout 

 Europe and in tliis country, and is a frequent ornament of courts and avenues. 

 It is of rapid growth, and attains the hight of 40 or 50 feet. In June it puts 

 forth numerous pyramidal racemes or tliyrses of flowers, of pinlv and while, 

 finely contrasting- with the dark green of its mnssy foliage. The leaves are 

 digitate, with seven obovate, acute, serrate leaflets. Th'e fruit is large, ma- 

 hogany-colored, and eaten only by deer. Horse- C/iestnut. 



ORDER XLVI. CELASTRACE^. The staff-mc Tribe. 



Ca/.— Sepals 4 — 5, united at l>ase, imbricated. [paneled disk whicli surrounds the ovar\-. 

 Co;-.— Petals as many as sepals, inserted by a broad base under tlie margin of the flat, ex- 

 6'to.— As many as the petals and alternate with them, inserted on the margin of the disk. 

 Ova. — Superior, immersed in, and adliering to the disk. 

 Fr. — A capsule or berrj'. Seeds either with or without an arillus. 



Chiefly native of the Temperate Zone of both hemispheres. The species of N. America 

 are chiefly slirulis. the leaves opposite or alternate. They possess acrid and bitter proper- 

 ties, sometimes emetic and stinuilant. 



Genera. 



i compound (ternate), .... Stnphylm. 1 



( opposite, ( simple, Euuiiijmus. ;f 



Shrubs with leaves ( alternate, simple, Celustnii. 2 



Tkibe ], STAPHYLE.E. 

 Leaves pinnate, opposite. Seeds not arilled. Cotyledons thick. 



1. STAPHYLE'A. 



Flowers perfect ; calyx of 5, colored, persistent sepals ; pe- 

 tals and stamens 5; styles 3; capsules 2 — 3, membranous 

 and inflated. 



A Greek word, meaning a buncli; from the form of tlie fructification. Shrubs, 

 Leaflets involute in vernation. Flowers white. 



S. trifo'lia. 



Leaves ternate; racemes pendulous; petals ciliafe below ; /'?•^^^i ovate. A 

 handsome shrub, 6 — 8 feet high, in moist woods and thickets. Leaflets oval- 

 acuminate, serrate, pale beneath, with scattered hairs. Flowers white, in a 

 short, drooping raceme. The most remarkable feature of the plant is its large, 

 inflated capsules, which are 3-sided, 3-parted at top, 3-celled, containing sev- 

 eral hard, small nuts or seeds, with a bony, smooth and polished testa. May. 



BLudder-nut, 



Tribe 2, EUONYMEiE. 



Leaves simple. Seeds usually arilled. Cotyledons leafy. 



2. CELA'STRUS. 



Flowers sometimes polygamous; calyx flat, of 5 united se- 

 pals ; corolla spreading, of 5 sessile petals ; capsule subglobose, 

 or 3-angled, 3-celled ; seeds with an arillus, 1 — 2 in each cell. 



A Greek name, given to a certain evergreen tree, of which pails and other 

 vessels were made. Climbing shrubs, with alternate leaves and minute decid- 

 uous stipules. 



