Vot. II] FALSE MERMAID FAMILY. 385 
Family 61. LIMNANTHACEAE Lindl. Nat. Syst. Bd. 2) me, «1826: 
FALSE MERMAID FAMILY. 
Annual herbs, with alternate petioled exstipulate pinnately divided leaves. 
Flowers perfect, regular, white pink or red, axillary, long-peduncled. Sepals 
2-5, valvate, persistent. Petals the same number as the sepals, alternating with 
as many small glands, the nearly perigynous stamens twice as many, distinct. 
Filaments filiform; anthers 2-celled, the sacs longitudinally dehiscent. Carpels 
as many as the sepals and opposite them, r-ovuled, nearly distinct, the single 
slender style arising from the centre as in Geraniaceae, cleft above into as many 
stigmas as there are carpels; ovule ascending. Fruit very deeply 2-5-lobed, the 
carpels indehiscent, rough or tubercled. Embryo straight; endosperm none; 
cotyledons thick. 
Two North American genera, the following, and Limmnanihes, of the Pacific States, with 5 or 6 
species. 
1. FLOERKEA Willd. Neue Schrift. Ges. Nat. Fr. 3: 448. 1801. 
An annual diffuse glabrous herb, with small white solitary flowers. Sepals 2-3, valvate. 
Glands 2-3. Petals 2-3, oblong, entire. Stamens 4-6. Ovary 
2-3-lobed nearly to the base, 2-3-celled; stigmas 2-3. Ma- 
ture carpels I-3, rugose, indehiscent, fleshy. Seed erect. 
[In honor of H. G. Floerke, 1790-1835, a German botanist. ] 
A monotypic genus of northern North America. 
1. Floerkea proserpinacoides Willd. False 
Mermaid. (Fig. 2346.) 
Floerkea proserpinacotdes Willd. Neue Schrift. Ges. Nat. Fr. 3: 
448. 1801. 
Slender, weak, 4’-15’ long, branching. Leaves thin, slen- 
der-petioled, 14’-3’ long, the segments 5 or 3, distant, lanceo- 
late, oblong or linear-oblong, acute or obtusish, entire or 
cleft; peduncles slender, elongating in fruit; flowers white, 
about 114’ broad; sepals ovate, acute, at length much exceed- 
ing the fruit; stamens about equalling the petals; ripe carpels 
nearly globular, about 114’ in diameter, tuberculate above. 
In marshes and along rivers, Quebec to Ontario and Oregon, 
south to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Utah, and California. 
April-June. 
Family 62. ANACARDIACEAE Lindl. Nat. Syst. 1830. 
SuMAC FAMILY. 
Trees or shrubs, with acrid resinous or milky sap, alternate or rarely oppo- 
site leaves, and polygamo-dioecious or perfect, mainly regular flowers. Calyx 
3-7-cleft. Petals of the same number, imbricated in the bud, or rarely none. 
Disk generally annular. Stamens as many or twice as many as the petals, 
rarely fewer, or more, inserted at the base of the disk; filaments separate; 
anthers commonly versatile. Ovary in the staminate flowers 1-celled. Ovary 
in the pistillate flowers 1- or sometimes 4~5-celled; styles 1-3; ovules 1 in each 
cavity. Fruit generally a small drupe. Seed-coat bony or crustaceous; endo- 
sperm little or none; cotyledons fleshy. 
About 50 genera and 4oo species, most abundant in warm or tropical regions, a few ex- 
tending into the temperate zones. 
Styles terminal; leaves compound in our species; fruit nearly symmetrical. 1. Rhus. 
Styles lateral; leaves simple; fruit gibbous. 2. Cotinus. 
Te EOS Sp. Pl265. 753: 
([ToxIcODENDRON Mill. Gard. Dict. Ed. 7. 1759.] 
Shrubs or trees, with alternate simple 3-foliolate or odd-pinnate leaves, no stipules, and 
small polygamous flowers in axillary or terminal panicles. Calyx 4-6-cleft or parted (com- 
monly 5 cleft), persistent. Petals equal, imbricated, spreading. Disk annular. Stamens 
(in our species) 5. Pistil 1, sessile; ovary 1-ovuled; styles 3, terminal. Drupe small, 
1-seeded, mostly subglobose, pubescent or glabrous. Seed inverted on a stalk that rises from 
the base of the ovary; cotyledons nearly flat. [Ancient Greek and Latin name; Celtic, red.] 
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