138 ELEMENTS OF BOTANY. 



petioled, trifoliate, pubescent; leaflets ovate or oval, acuminate, 

 entire or somewhat dentate, often angled or lobed ; flowers dioecious, 

 in loose axillary panicles ; drupe nearly white, smooth. May-June. 

 Common in open woods and along fences. Plant poisonous to the 

 touch. 



11. COTINUS. 



Shrubs or small trees ; leaves simple ; flowers in large ter- 

 minal panicles ; calyx o-parted ; petals 5, longer than the 

 sepals; stamens 5; styles 3, lateral; drupe ovoid, inequi- 

 lateral. 



C. coTiNOiDES (Nutt.) Britt. Smoke Tree. A small tree; 

 leaves oval or oV)ovate, obtuse at the apex, acute at the base, entire, 

 glabrous or slightly pubescent; flowers in loose and spreading pani- 

 cles, many of the pedicels abortive but becoming elongated and 

 veiy plumose; flow^ers small, perfect; drupe smooth. May-June. 

 Often cultivated for ornament. 



70. CYRILLACEiE. CYRILLA FAMILY. 



Small trees or shrubs ; leaves often evergreen, alternate ; 

 stipules none ; flowers perfect, in terminal and lateral racemes ; 

 sepals 4-8, persistent ; petals as many as the sepals, hypogy- 

 nous ; stamens 5-10, distinct ; ovary 2-5-celled, 2-5-ovuled, 

 style entire or 2-4-lobed; fruit dry, 1-5-seeded. 



I. CYRILLA. 



Small trees ; branches glabrous ; leaves entire, short- 

 petioled ; flowers white, in racemes clustered at the base of 

 the growth of the season ; sepals 5, small ; petals 5, spread- 

 ing, deciduous, longer than the sepals ; stamens 5, alternate 

 with the petals ; style persistent, 2-lobed ; fruit 2-celled, 

 2-seeded. 



C. RACEMiFLORA Walt. Leatherwood. A shrub, 10-15 ft. 

 high ; branches often in whorls ; leaves ellij)tical or ovate-oblong, 

 smooth, entire; racemes many-flowered, 4-6 in. long, pedicels 

 bracted ; fruit ovate, about ^L in. loug, tipped with the persistent 

 style. June-July. Common on damp soil. 



