38 



LEGUMINOS^. (pea FAMILY.) 



3. NEGUNDO, Mcench. 



Box-Elder. 



Flowers dioecious. Calyx minute. Petals and disk none. Stamens 4 or 5. Ovary 

 and fruit as in ^ffr. Trees; leaves pinnate; sterile flowers on clustered capillary pedi- 

 cels, the fertile in drooping racemes. 



1. N. Californicum, Torr. & Gr. Usually a small tree; leaves 3-foliolate, villous; 

 leaflets o\-ate or oblong, acute, 3 or 4 inches long, the terminal largest and 3-5-lobed or 

 coarsely serrate, the lateral ones coarsely serrate; fiiiit pubescent; wings slightly 

 spreading. 



In the figure a represents the fruit of Acer ma- 

 crojyhyllnm, h the wider sj) reading samara of Acer 

 circ'inatmn, and c the closer wings of Negundo 

 CaU/ornkum. The first has hairy carpels; the 

 second is smooth, and the last slightly liairy. 



Order ANACARDIACE^ is represented 

 by tJie well-known Poison Oak or Bhus diversiloha, 

 a slender, sometimes climbing, shrub, resembling 

 the eastern ii/i»s toxicodendron, which is also often 

 called Poison Oak, but is more commonly known 

 as Poison Ivy. The eastern Sumac belongs to the 

 same genus. Thex-e are three other species of 

 RJ.ns in the State. The Pepper tree [Schiniis 

 niolle), so commonly cidtivated as an ornamental 

 shade ti"ee, belongs to this order. 



Oeder 20. LEGUMINOSiE. 



The single and simple free pistil becoming a legume in fruit, the alternate leaves Avith 

 stipules, and in our genera, the papillionaceous corolla with 10 stamens, mark tliis order, 

 one of t]ie largest and most important in the vegetable kingdom. 



Flowers irregular. Calyx 3-5-cleft or toothed, persistent. Corolla of 5 petals, the 

 upper larger and always external, covering the lateral pair in the bud, and these cover- 

 ing the lower pair, which are more or less united, forming a keel which encloses the 

 stamens and pistil. Filaments 10, rarely 5, commonly united around the pistil, either 

 all united or nine and the upper one free. Ovary forming a pod with a single row of 

 seeds attached to one side; style usually inflexed or curved. In Cercis the ujjper petal is 

 small and enclosed by the wings. In Amorpha there is but one petal. 



Suborder CaesalpineaB is mai'ked by the upper petal enclosed, and distinct stamens. 



Suborder Minioseae has regular flowers and usually many conspicuous stamens. 



