80 BERBERIDACEAE 



of woods along hillsides and streams, ranges from western Que- 

 bec to Manitoba and south to Georgia and Arkansas. In Illi- 

 nois, it grows throughout the length and breadth of the state, 

 avoiding only purely prairie regions where there are neither 

 woods nor thickets to furnish the necessary shade. 



CALYCOCARPUM Nuttall 



Western Moonseed Cupseed 



The cupseed genus is a monotypic one, confined to the south- 

 central United States. It has the distinguishing characteristics 

 of its one species, which is described below. 



CALYCOCARPUM LYON I (Pursh) Nuttall 

 Cupseed Western Moonseed 



The Cupseed, fig. 15, is a high-climbing vine reaching to the 

 tops of trees by twining stems, which bear large, petioled, pal- 

 mately veined, lobed leaves. The leaves are thin, cordate at the 

 base, strikingly 3- to 7-lobed, and 5 to 8 inches long, with acute 

 to acuminate lobe points. They are glabrous above but more 

 or less pubescent, at least on the veins, beneath. The dioecious 

 flowers stand in slender axillary panicles and are provided with 

 6 sepals arranged in two rows, but lack petals. There are 12 

 stamens, imperfect in the pistillate flowers, and 3 pistils, each 

 of which develops into a black, fleshy drupe nearly 1 inch long, 

 containing in its thin flesh a round or oval, cup-shaped stone. 



Distribution. — The Cupseed vine, a plant of woody regions 

 along streams, ranges from Kentucky into Kansas and south- 

 ward into Florida and Louisiana. In Illinois, it is the rarest 

 of the moonseed vines and occurs only in the extreme southern 

 part of the state, in the valleys of the Wabash, Ohio and Cache 

 rivers. Flowers appear in May and June, but the fruit does 

 not become ripe until August. 



BERBERIDACEAE 



The Barberry Family 



The members of the barberry family are shrubs with yellow 

 wood and inner bark, which bear alternate, simple or pinnately 

 compound, spine-toothed leaves, and racemes or panicles of 



