CELASTRACE.E. (STAFF-TREE FAMILY.) 81 



Order 35. CELASTRACEiE. (Staff-tree Family.) 



Shrubs with simple leaves, and small regular flowers, the sepals and the 

 petals both imbricated in the bud, the 4 or 5 perigynous stamens as many as 

 the petals and alternate with them, inserted on a disk ivhich Jills the bottom oj 

 the calyx. Seeds arilled. — Ovary 2 - 5-celled, with one or few anatropous 

 (erect or pendulous) ovules in each cell : styles united into one. Fruit 2- 

 5-celled, free from the calyx. Embryo large, in fleshy albumen : cotyledons 

 broad and thin. Stipules minute and fugacious. Pedicels jointed. — Rep- 

 resented in the Northern States by two genera. 



1. CELASTEIIS, L. Staff-tbee. Shrubbt Bittek-sweet. 



Flowers polygamo-dioecious. Petals (crenulate) and stamens 5, inserted on 

 the margin of a cup-shaped disk which lines the tube of the calyx. Pod glo- 

 bose (orange-color and beny-like), 3-celled, 3-valved, loculicidal. Seeds 1-2 

 in each cell, erect, enclosed by a pulpy scarlet aril. — Leaves alternate. Flow- 

 ers small, greenish, in raceme-like clusters terminating the branches. (An 

 ancient Greek name for some evergreen, which our plant is not.) 



1, C scandens, L. (Wax-work. Climbing Bitter-sweet.) 



Woody, sarmentose and twining ; leaves ovate-oblong, finely serrate, pointed. — 

 Along streams and thickets. June. — The opening orange-colored pods, dis- 

 playing the scarlet covering of the seeds, are very ornamental in autumn. 



2. 12UONYMUS, Tourn. Spindle-tree. 



Flowers perfect. Sepals 4 or 5, united at the base, forming a short and flat 

 calyx. Petals 4-5, rounded, spreading. Stamens very short, inserted on the 

 edge or face of a broad and flat 4 - 5-angled disk, which coheres with the calyx 

 and is stretched over the ovary, adhering to it more or less. Style short or 

 none. Pod 3-5-lobed, 3-5-valved, loculicidal. Seeds 1-3 in each cell, en- 

 closed in a red aril. — Shrubs, with 4-sided branchlets, opposite serrate leaves, 

 and loose cymes of small flowers on axillary peduncles. (Deriv. from ev, good, 

 and ovofia, name, because it has the bad reputation of poisoning cattle. Tourn.) 



1. E. atropurpiircus, Jacq. (Burning-Busu. Waahoo.) Shrub 

 tall (6° -14° high) and upright; leaves petioled, oval-oblong, pointed; parts of 

 the (dark purple) flower commonly in fours; pods smooth, deeply lobed. — New 

 York to Wisconsin and southward: also cultivated. June. — Ornamental in 

 autumn, by its copious crimson fruit, drooping on long peduncles. 



2. E. America smss, L. (Strawberry Bush.) Shrub low, upright 

 or straggling (2° -5° high) ; leaves almost sessile, thickish, bright green, varying 

 from ovate to oblong-lanceolate, acute or pointed ; parts of the greenish-purple 

 flowers mostly in fives ; pods rough-warty, depressed, crimson when ripe, the aril 

 scarlet. — Wooded river-banks, W. New York to Illinois and southward. June. 



Var. obovatus, Torr. & Gray. Trailing, with rooting branches ; flower- 

 ing stems l°-2° high ; leaves thin and dull, obovate or oblong. (E. obovatus. 

 Nutt.\ — Low or wet places. 



