MENISPEBMACKE. (MOONSEED FAMILY.) 15 



distinct or cohering in a mass, baccate in fruit. Seed anatropous, large. 

 Embryo minute, at the base of ruminated albumen. 



1. ASIMINA, Adans. Pafaw. Custard-Apple. 



Petals thick; the three outer ones larger and spreading. Stamens very nu- 

 merous, crowded on the globular receptacle. Ovaries 3-15, sessile, 1h 

 few — many-ovuled, baccate in fruit. Seeds horizontal, enclosed in a thin succu- 

 lent mil. — Shrubs or small trees. Leaves deciduous. Flowers nodding. 



* Flowers appearing with or before the leaves. 



1. A. triloba, Dunal. Leaves oblong-obovate, acuminate, covered with 

 a ru-ry pubescence, as also the branches when young, at length glabrous ; outer 

 petals round-ovate, dark purple, 3-4 times as long as the hairy sepals. (Uvaria 

 triloba, Tour. <J- Gray.) — Banks of rivers, Florida and northward. March and 

 April. — A shrub or small tree. Leaves 8' -12' long. Flowers l'-l^'wide. 

 Fruit oblong, yellow and pulpy when mature, edible. 



2. A. parviflora, Dunal. Leaves oblong-obovate, abruptly pointed, and 

 like the branches rusty-pubescent, at length smooth ; outer petals oblong-ovate, 

 twice as long as the calyx. (Uvaria parviflora, Torr.Sf Gray.) — Dry sandy soil, 

 Florida to North Carolina and westward. March and April. — Shrub 2°- 5° 

 high. Leaves 4' -6' long, thicker than those of the preceding. Flowers |' wide, 

 rusty-pubescent, greenish-purple. Fruit oblong or pear-shaped, fleshy, few- 

 seeded. 



3. A. grandiflora, Dunal. Leaves oblong or oblong-obovate, obtuse, rigid, 

 densely pubescent like the branches when young, becoming smootliish above ; 

 outer petals large, round-obovate, many times longer than the sepals ; fruit small, 

 obovate, 1 -few-seeded. (A. cuneata, Shuttl.) — Sandy pine barrens, Georgia 

 and F.a-t Florida. March and April. — A small shrub Leaves 2' -3' long. 

 Outer petals two inches or more in length, yellowish-white. 



* * Flowers from the axils of present leaves. 



4. A. pygma3a, Dunal. Smooth or nearly so throughout ; leaves coria- 

 ceous, oblanceolatc or oblong-wedge-shaped, obtuse ; outer petals oblong-obo- 

 vate, many times longer than the sepals, pale-yellow, the inner ones ; 

 within; fruit cylindrical, pulpy, few-seeded. (A. sceundiflora and probably A. 

 reticulata, Shuttl , the latter a pubescent form, with smaller (l'-2') oblong leaves 

 and smaller flowers.) — Dry pine barrens, Florida and the lower districts of 

 Georgia. May-July. — Shrub i°-3° high. Leaves 2'-6'long, rarely 1' wide. 

 Flowers k 1 - 3' wide. 



Order 4. MEXISPER3IACEJE. (Moonseed Family.) 



Climbing shrubby vines, with alternate palmately veined and often 

 lobed leaves, on slender petioles, and small polygamous or dioecious flow- 

 ers, in axillary racemes or panicles. Stipules none. Sepals and petals 

 mostly alike, in two or more rows, imbricated in the bud. Stamens 6 or 



