554 RHAMNACEAE 



Shrub not spinose; native species. v 



Flowers 4-merous; petals present; seeds 2, grooved; leaves not strongly veiny. 

 Leaves broadly lanceolate, acuminate with a blunt apex. 2. R. ihnceoldla. 

 Leaves narrowly lanceolate, not acuminate. 3. R. Smithii. 



Flowers 5-merous, apetalous; seeds 3, scarcely grooved; leaves strongly veiny. 



4. R. alriifolia. 

 Flowers in peduncled umbels or corymbs, perfect; winter-buds not scaly, pubescent. 

 Peduncles longer than the pedicels ; leaves merely caUous-denticulate. 5. R. Purshiana . 

 Peduncles shorter than the pedicels, sometimes almost none; leaves finely but dis- 

 tinctly serrate. 6. R. b'elulaefolia . 



1. R. carthartica L. Shrub or low tree, 2-7 m. high, with rough bark; 

 leaves petioled; blades glabrous or nearly so, broadly ovate or oval, 3-6 cm. long, 

 crenate; flowers dioecious, greenish, 4-merous; petals lanceolate; drupe globose, 

 about 8 mm. in diameter; seeds 3-4, grooved. Around dwellings: Ont. — Va. — 

 Colo.; cult, and occasionally escaped; native of Eu. Je. 



2. R. lanceolata Pursh. Unarmed shrub or small tree; leaves short-petioled ; 

 blades lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, with a blunt apex, minutely 

 crenate, glabrous above, puberulent beneath, 3-8 cm. long; flowers 2-3 in the 

 axils of the leaves, greenish, dioecious; petals lanceolate, shorter than the sepals; 

 drupe black, 6 mm. in diameter. Wet ground: Pa. — Ala. — Tex. — Neb. Plain. 

 My-Je. 



3. R. Smithii Greene. Unarmed shrub, with densely leafy branches and 

 yellowish or grayish bark; leaves short-petioled; blades yellowish green, lance- 

 olate, obtuse or acutish, finely crenate, 2-4 cm. long; flowers greenish, dioecious; 

 drupe subglobose, 6-7 mm. in diameter, black. Mountain valleys: Colo. — 

 N.M.— Ariz. — Utah. Submont. Je. 



4. R. alnifolia L'Her. Unarmed shrub, 1-2 m. high; branches gray, finely 

 pubescent; leaves short-petioled; blades oval or elliptic, from obtuse to some- 

 what acuminate, coarsely crenate-serrate, finely pubescent when yoiuig, soon 

 glabrate, 3-10 cm. long, strongly veined; flowers sohtary or 2 or 3 umbellate; 

 sepals spreading; drupe black, 7-8 mm. in diameter. Swamps: Me. — N.J. — 

 Wyo.— n Cahf.— B.C. Submo?it. My-Je. 



5. R. Purshiana DC. Unarmed shrub or small tree, 3-10 m. high; leaves 

 short-petioled; blades broadly oval, rounded or subcordate at the base, obtuse 

 or abruptly short-aciuninate, 3-12 cm. long, short-villous beneath and on the 

 veins above; flowers 5-merous, perfect; petals minute; drupe depressed-globose, 

 purple or black, 3-seeded; seeds plano-convex, without a groove. Woods: 

 Mont.— Calif.— B.C. Submont. My-Je. 



6. R. betulaefolia Greene. Unarmed low shrub, 1-3 m. high; branches 

 pubescent; leaves short-petioled; blades oval or elliptic or obovate-lanceolate, 

 acute or obtuse at the apex, 5-10 cm. long, puberulent and in age glabrate 

 above, pubescent beneath, especially on the strong veins; flowers corymbose, 

 few; drupe purplish black, 8 mm. broad, 3-seeded. Under cliffs and along 

 streams: N.M. — Ariz. — s Utah. Son. — Submont. Mj'-Jl. 



2. CEANOTHUS L. New Jersey Tea, Mountain Laurel. 

 Snow Brush, Deer Brush. 



Shrubs or small trees, often with spinulose branches. Leaves alternate, 

 commonly 3-ribbed; stipules caducous. Flowers perfect, crowded in terminal 

 panicles, cj-mes, or umbels. Hypanthium urn-shaped, filled by the disk. Sepals 

 5, deciduous, white. Petals 5, inserted imdor the disk, long-clawed and strongly 

 hooded. Stamens 5; filaments filiform, exserted. Ovary immersed in the disk, 

 3-celled. Styles short, united below; stigmas 3. Fruit dry, 3-lobed, separating 

 into 3 nutlets. Seeds flattened; endosperm fleshy. 



Leaves alternate, thin, triple-nerved. 



Leaf-blades rounded -oval, often cordate at the base, closely glandular-dentate or 



Peduncles often naked from lateral buds; leaves sparingly pubescent beneath, 

 soon glabrate. 

 Leaves 3-6 cm. long; yoimg branches long-hairy, soon glabrate. 



1. C. sanouineus. 

 Leaves 1-2.5 cm. long; young branches finely puberulent. 2. C. Martini. 



