414 



MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



Laportca canadensis Gaudichaud. Wood Nettle. 



Perennial stem 2-3 feet high ; leaves ovate, pointed thin, long-petioled, 

 sharpl}' serrate; fertile cymes divergent; achcne smooth, as long as the calyx. 



Distribution. In rich woods from Nova Scotia to Minnesota and Kansas 

 and south to Florida. 



Poisonous properties. It acts similarly to nettle, the poisonous action being 

 even more pronounced. L. crentilata, L. gigas, and L. slintulosa also possess 

 similar properties. 



Madura Nutt. Osage Orange. 



Tree with milky juice; leaves alternate, pinnately veined; stipules cadu- 

 cous; stout, axillary spines; flowers dioecious, staminate in loose, short racemes 

 with 4-parted calyx and 4-stamens; pistillate, capitate with a 4-cleft calyx 

 enclosing the sessile ovary and long exserted style; fruit an achene surrounded 

 by a fleshy calyx; endosperm none; embryo curved; it contains a single species 

 named Toxylon by Rafinesque. 



Madura pomifera (Raf.) Schneider. Osage Orange 



A tree 30-50 feet high ; leaves ovate to oblong, lanceolate, pointed, mostly 

 rounded at the base, green and shining; the syncarpous fruit is globose, yellow- 

 ish green 2-4 inches in diameter ; the wood is hard and tough and is used in the 

 manufacture of wagons for paving, fcncepost, etc. The tree is extensively 

 planted as a hedge plant. 



Fig. 194. Wood Nettle (Laportea 

 canadensis). A common wood 

 plant causing urticaria. (C. M. 

 King.) 



