288 Obdeb 41.— SAPINDACE^E. 



or very few large, smooth seeds ; cotyledons thick, bulky, inseparable. — • 

 Trees or shrubs with opposite, digitate, 5 to 7 -foliate lvs. Fls. pani- 

 culate, terminal. 



§ JEsculus DC. Fruit covered with prickles. Petals 4 or 5, spreading Nos. 1, 9 



g Pavia. DC. Fruit smooth. Petals 4, erect, the 2 upper clawed Nos. 3—5 



1 .33. Hippocastanum L. Horse Chestnut. Lvs. of 7 obovate lfts.-, 

 pet. 5, spreading; fr. prickly. — A noble tree, justly admired for its majestic pro- 

 portions, and for the beauty of its foliage and flowers. It is a native of the north 

 of Asia, but is now known throughout Europe and in this country, and is a fre- 

 quent ornament of courts and avenues. It is of rapid growth, and attains tbo 

 height of 40 or 5 Of. In Juno it puts forth numerous pyramidal racemes or 

 thyrses of flowers of pink and white, finely contrasting with the dark green of 

 its foliage. The seed is large, mahogany-colored, and eaten only by deer, f 



2 2E. glabra T7illd. Ohio Buckeye. Lfts. 5, oval or oblong, acuminate, serrato 

 or serrulate ; fls. in lax thyrsoid panicles ; cor. 4-petaled, spreading, with the 

 claws as long as the calyx ; stain, nearly twice longer than the corolla ; fr. echi- 

 nate. — A small, ill-scented tree, along the banks of the Ohio and its tributariea 

 Lfts. 3 to 6' long, ^ as wide, subsessile. or often contracted at base to short stalks. 

 Fls. yellowish-white, small, slightly irregular. Fr. hardly 1' diam. May, Jn. 

 (Pavia Ohioensis Mx.) 



3 SI. flava Ait. Big Buckeye. Sweet Buckeye. Lfts. 5 to 7, oblong-ovate 

 or elliptic-ovate, acuminate, serrulate, pubescent beneath ; fls. in thyrsoid, pubes- 

 cent panicles, about 6 on each division of the peduncle ; cal. eampanulate, not 

 half the length of the corolla ; petals very unequal, connivent, longer than the stam- 

 ens; fr. unarmed. — A large tree, 30 to 70f high, common in the Southern and 

 Western States. (In Columbia co., Ga., only 4 to Gf high Elliott.) Lfts. 4 to 7' 

 by 1 to 3'. Fls. pale yollow. Fr. globous, uneven on the surface, but not 

 prickly, 2' diam., with 1 or 2 largo (1' diam.), mahogany-colored seeds. Apr., 

 May. 



4 SI. Pavia L. Buckeye. Lfts. 5 to 7, oblong-lanceolate, cuncate at base, shortly 

 acuminate, finely serrate ; fls. red, very irregular in a lax, thyrsoid raceme ; pet. 

 4, erect, as long as stamens; cal. tubular, half as long as the 2 shorter petals. — 

 A beautiful shrub, 3 to lOf high, common in the Southern States. Lvs. of a rich 

 shining green, the veins, petioles and twigs purple. Fls. largo (1' long), red, 

 glabrous. Mar. — May. \ 



5 2El. parviflora "Walt. Lfts. 5 to 7, obovato acuminate, serrate, velvety canes- 

 cent beneath ; petals 4 (white), somewhat similar and spreading, thrice shorter than 

 the capillary stamens. — A beautiful shrub, 2 to 5f high, in upper Ga. and S. Car. 

 Fls. very numerous, in a long, slender, raccmous thyrse. The upper petals are 

 rather longer, all on slender, exserted claws. Apr., May. (M. macrostachya Mx.) 



2. SAPIKDUS, L. Soap-berry. (That is, by syncope, Sapo Indicus, 

 Indian soap.) Sepals 4 or 5 ; petals as many, or one less by abortion, 

 appendaged inside with a gland, scale or beard ; stamens 8 to 10; in- 

 serted on the upper surface of the fleshy disk ; stigmas 3 ; fruit 3, 

 connate, globular, fleshy carpels, often by abortion 2 or 1 ; seed large, 

 solitary. — Trees with alternate, pinnate, exstipulate leaves. 



S. marginatus Willd. Common petioles wingless; lfts. 9 to 18, ovate-lance- 

 olate, long-pointed, very inequilateral, short-stalked, entire, glabrous, shining 

 above; fls. in dense compound panicles. $ $ or J $ $ . — Ga. to Ark. Tree 20 

 to 40f high, with bright-green foliage and small fls. in large terminal panicles. 

 The barren panicles much more dense and compound than the fertile. Filaments 

 hairy. Berry usually single, rarely triple, reddish-brown, as large as an ounce 

 bullet, its pulp soapy. Seeds loose, rattling. 



3. CARDIOSPERMUM, L. Heart-seed. Balloon-vine. (Gr. tcapdia, 

 heart, orrtpfia, seeds ; the globous seeds marked with a large cordate 

 hilum.) Sepals 4, the 2 outer smallest ; petals 4, each with an emar- 



