RHAMNACEAE 129 



Family 78. BALSAMINACEAE Lindi. 

 Herbs with alternate, petioled leaves, no stipules and irregular axillary 

 flowers. Sepals three, the two lateral much smaller than the third Avhich 

 is long-spurred and petaloid. Petals three, two of them 2-Iobed. 

 Stamens five. Ovary 5-celled, many-ovuled. Fruit a capsule bursting 

 elastically by the five spirally coiled valves. 



1. IMPATIENS L. Touch-me-not. 



Characters of the family. 



Flowers orange-yellow, mottled. 1. I. hi flora. 



Flowers light yellow. 2. /. aurea. 



1. I. biflora Walt. 2°-6° high, glabrous : leaves ovate-elliptic, 

 coarsely toothed : spur of sac strongly incurved, half as long as sac. — 

 Abundant in moist woods. May-September. 



2. I. aurea Muhl. Differs from the last in having pale yellow, spar- 

 ingly mottled flowers, the sac contracted into an abruptly bent but 

 scarcely incurved spur, one-third the length of the sac. — Abundant with 

 the last. May-September. 



Family 79. RHAMNACEAE Dumort. 



Woody plants with simple alternate leaves and small regular flowers. 

 Calyx 4-5-toothed. Petals 4-5. Stamens 4-5, opposite the petals. 

 Ovary 2-5-celled, bearing one ovule in each cell. Stamens and petals 

 inserted on the edge of a fleshy disk. 



Flowers greenish, axillary. 1. Rhamnus. 



Flowers white, in terminal corymbs. 2. Ceanothus. 



1. RHAMNUS L. 



Shrubs with axillary cyraose flowers. Petals 4-5, short-clawed, 

 wrapped around the stamens. Ovary free. Drupe berry-like. 



1. R. lanceolata Pursh. Buckthorn. 4°-12° high : leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, serrulate, glabrous : flowers subdioecious : fruit 2-seeded. — 

 Common in barrens, especially in the southern part. April-May. 



2. CEANOTHUS L. New Jersey Tea. 

 Small shrubs. Petals clawed, hooded. Lower part of calyx and disk 

 cohering with the ovary. Fruit dry, 3-lobed, 3-seeded. 



Flowers April-May. 1. C. ovatus pubescens. 



Flowers June-July. 2. C. Americanus. 



1. C. ovatus pubescens T. & G. l°-5° high : whole plant densely 

 pubescent : leaves oval-lanceolate, glandular-serrate : flowering peduncles 

 short. — Frequent in barrens, especially in the southern part. 



2. C. Americanus L. Resembles the last but leaves ovate or ovate- 

 oblong and flowering peduncles long. — Prairies and barrens throughout, 

 but leas frequent than the last. 



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