38 



LEGUMINOS^. (pea FAlVnLT.) 



3. NEGUNDO, Mcench. Box-Elder. 



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

 and fruit as in Acer. Trees; leaves pinnate; sterile flowei's on clustered capillax-y pedi- 

 cels, the fertile in drooping racemes. 



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

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

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

 spreading. 



In the figure a represents the fruit of Acer ma- 

 crojyhyllum, b the wider spreading samara of Acer 

 circinatum, and c the closer wings of Negundo 

 Calif or nicum. The first has hairy carpels; the 

 second is smooth, and the last slightly hairy. 



Order ANACARDIACEiE is represented 

 by the well-known Poison Oak or Blius diversiloha, 

 a slender, sometimes climbing, shrub, resembling 

 the eastern Elius toxicodendron, which is also often 

 called Poison Oak, but is more commonly known 

 as Poison Ivy. The eastern Sumac belongs to the 

 same genus. There are three other species of 

 BliUS in the State. Tlie Pepper tree {Schinits 

 mol/e), so commonly cidtivated as an ornamental 

 shade ti'ee, belongs to this order. 



Order 20. LEGUMINOS^. 



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

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

 one of the 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 tlie 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 upper petal is 

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



Suborder Caesalpineae is marked by the upper petal enclosed, and distinct stamens. 



Suborder Mimosess has regular flowers and usually many conspicuous stamens. 



