60 ACERACEiE. 



3. ELODEA. Adans.—Elodea. 



(From the GreeA: eAwJ;??, growing in marshy places.) 



Sepals 5, somewhat united at base. Petals 5, deciduous, 



equilateral. Stamens 9, (rarely 12 — 15,) united into three 



parcels which alternate with 3 hypogynous glands. Styles 3, 



distinct. Capsule oblong, membranaceous, 3 -celled. 



E. Virginica Nult. : leaves sessile, claspinjj ; stamens united below the 

 middle. E. campanulata Pursh. Hypericum Virginicum Linn. 



Bogs and meadows. Can. to Fior. and Louis. July — Sept. %. — Stem 12 — 18 

 inches high, tinged with purple. Leaves 1 — 2 inches long, paler beneath. Flcnv- 

 ers few,^in terminal and axillary cymes, reddish-yellow, half an inch in diameter. 



Virginian Elodea. 



Order XXV. ACERACE^.— Maples. 



Calyx 5, or rarely 4 — 9-parted, with an imbricate aestivation. 

 Petals as many as the lobes of the calyx and alternate with them, 

 inserted round a hypogynous disk. Stamens usually 8, some- 

 times 3 — 12, distinct. Ovary 2-lobed, 2-celled ; style 1 ; stig- 

 mas 2. Fruit of 2 indehiscent winged carpels, {samarce,) each 

 1-celled, 1 — 2-seeded. Seeds with little or no albumen. — Trees, 

 with opposite, palmately lobed, rarely pinnate, leaves. Flowers 

 small, often polygamous, in racemes, corymbs or fascicles. 



1. ACER, Linn. — Maple. 

 (From the Latin acer, sharp ; the wood having been used for pikes, or lances.) 

 Flowers mostly polygamous. Calyx 5 -lobed, sometimes 5- 

 parted. Stamens rarely 5, often 1 — 10. Samara 3, winged, 

 united at base, by abortion 1 -seeded. 



* Flowers in corymbs (/)• fascicles. 



1. A. riibrum Linn. : leaves 3 — 5-lobed, cordate at the base, unequally 

 and incisely toothed, glaucous beneath ; the sinuses acute, the lobes acute 

 or acuminate ; flowers aggregated in about fives, on rather long pedicels ; 

 fruit smooth ; the wings slightly falcate, at length spreading. 



Moist woods. Can. to Flor. April. — A tree from 20 — 50 feet high. Leaves 

 pubescent when young. Flowers appearing before the leaves, in sessile fascicle.*;, 

 red or yellowish. Pedicels of the flowers, half an inch long, of the fruit 2 — 3 

 inches. Red Maple. 



2. A. eriocarpum Mich. : leaves palmately 5-lobed, truncate at the base, 

 smooth and whitish-glaucous beneath ; sinuses obtuse ; lobes acuminata, 

 incisely toothed ; flowers aggregated, on short pedicels ; fruit woolly when 

 young, nearly smooth when old, with large dilated wings. A dasycarpitm 



Wllld. 



