.SJMAKUI3ACi:-K. (QUASSIA lA.MlLY.) 



OiiDKi! :U. SI3IAKUBAC'EyK. ((^iassia Family.) 



Trees or shrubs, with, usually, bitter milky juice, simple or pinnate 

 exstipulate leaves, and regular perfect or i>olygamous hypogynous flow- 

 ers. — Calyx 3 - 5-clef t, persistent. Petals ;5 - 5, deciduous. Stamens 

 as many or twice as many, inserted on a hypogynous disk. Ovary 

 composed of distinct or united carpels, each l-'2-ovuled. Fruit dru- 

 paceous. Albumen none. — The following genera represent as many 

 tribes of the order. 



1. SIMARUBA, Aul.let. Quassia. 



Flowers moiicpc-ions or tli(L'cious. Calyx 4 - 5-touthe(l. Petals 4 - .5, spread- 

 ing. Stamens 8-10, witli the filaments adliereut to the back of a ciliate scale. 

 Ovaries 4-5, surrounded J)y8-10 siale-like rudiments of stamens with a 

 single suspended ovule in each. Drupes 1-5. — Trees. Leaves abruptly 

 piijiiate, with alternate and entire leaflets. Flowers small, greeuisii, in lateral 

 and terminal panicles. 



1. S. glauca, DC. Smooth throughout; flowers dia'cious; stigmas 5, 

 subulate, .sjireading; leaflets 4-8, alternate and o])posite, coriaceous, obovate 

 or oblong, obtuse, paler beneath; drupe oval, mostly solitary. — South Flor- 

 ida. — A large tree. 



2. PICRAMNIA, Swartz. 



Flowers dioecious. Calyx 3-5parted. Petals 3-5, oblong. Stamens 

 3-5, opposite the petals, exserted. Stigmas 2, sessile. Fruit a 2-celled, 2- 

 seeded drupe. — Small trees, with unequally pinnate leaves, and small flowers 

 in terminal racemes or panicles. 



1. P. pentandra, Swartz. Leaflets 5-7, alternately distant, ovate- 

 oblong, uhlu.su ; ])anicle simple, drooping ; flowers greenish ; stamens 5. — 

 Miami, South Florida ( Garber). 



3. SURIANA, Plum. 



Calyx 5-])artcd, persistent; the base filled with a fleshy torus, which bears 

 the ovaries, petals, and stamens. Petals 5, oblong-obovate. Stamens 10, 

 hairy, the alternate ones short and sterile. Ovaries 5, distinct, with 2 erect 

 collateral orthotropous ovules in each." Styles 5, each arising from the central 

 angle of the ovary near the base, thickened upwards. Carpels 1-seeded, inde- 

 hiscent. Seeds without albumen. Embryo hooked. — A downy shrub, with 

 alternate crowded exstij)ulate leaves, and perfect yellow flowers, iu small 

 axillary Ijracted racemes. 



1. S. maritima, L. — Sea-shore, South Florida. — Shrub 4°-6° high. 

 Leaves lincar-.-^patuhite, fleshy, imbricated near the summit of the branches- 

 Racemes shorter than the leaves. 



