510 GROSSULARIACEAE 



sule woody, 2-beaked, opening loculicidally by two valves at the top and elastically dis- 

 charging the seeds. Seeds solitary in each cavity, elongated, with a crustaceous shining 

 testa. Endosperm fleshy. WITCH HAZEL. WITCH ELM. 



1. Hamamelis Virginiana L. A shrub or small tree, reaching a maximum height 

 of 10 m., with a trunk diameter of about 1 dm. Leaf -blades rather leathery, suborbicular, 

 oval, elliptic or obovate, 4-15 cm. long, acute or obtuse, coarsely crenate, truncate or cor- 

 date at the very oblique base, glabrous or sometimes pubescent above, more or less pubes- 

 cent beneath : sepals triangular, spreading or recurved : petals linear, strap-like, bright 

 yellow, more or less crisped, much exserted : stamens included : filaments subulate : ovary 

 villous : capsules ovoid or subglobose, 12-15 cm. long, densely tomentulose : seeds oblong 

 or elliptic, 7-9 mm. long, beetle-like, nearly black, smooth and shining. 



In low woods or on moist hillsides, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to Ontario and Nebraska, 

 south to Florida and Texas. Flowers in the fall and matures its fruit during the next summer. 



3. LIQUIDAMBAR L. 



Usually monoecious trees, with a balsamic sap, a soft scaly bark, terete and often corky- 

 winged branchlets. Leaves alternate : blades palmately lobed, thickjsh, long-petioled, the 

 lobes glandular-serrate : stipules acute, caducous. Flowers monoecious or rarely perfect, 

 in peduncled heads subtended by 4 deciduous bracts. Perianth wanting. Staminate flowers 

 in terminal racemed heads : stamens numerous, accompanied by numerous minute scales : 

 filaments slender, shorter than the anthers. Pistillate flowers in solitary long-peduncled 

 axillary heads : staminodia 4. Ovary of 2 united 1-celled carpels, partly immersed in the 

 receptacle, surmounted by 2 stout styles, stigmatose on the inner faces. Ovules numerous, 

 pendulous, anatropous. Capsules armed with the accrescent, incurved, horn-like styles, 

 united into a globose head, septicidally 2-valved at the apex. Seeds 1 or 2, flattened, with 

 a crustaceous testa which is produced into an obovate wing. Endosperm fleshy. 



1. Liquidambar Styraciflua L. A forest tree, reaching a maximum height of 45 m. 

 and a trunk diameter of 1.5 m. Bark with broad ridges and deep fissures, the branchlets 

 often corky-winged : leaf-blades suborbicular in outline, palmately 5-lobed, deep green, 

 shining and glabrous, except the nerves beneath, truncate or subcordate at the base, the 

 lobes triangular or lanceolate, serrate, more or less acuminate ; petioles slender, about as 

 long as the blades : flowers monoecious, in globose clusters, the staminate heads racemose, 

 the pistillate heads solitary on long dropping peduncles : fruiting heads globose, 3-4 cm. in 

 diameter, the bodies of the capsules somewhat longer than the horns. 



In low woods, Connecticut to Missouri, Florida and Texas. Flowers in spring, matures its fruit in 

 the summer. SWEET GUM. RED GUM. BILSTED. STAR-LEAVED GUM. ALLIGATOR-TREE. 



FAMILY 9. GROSSULARIACEAE Dumort. GOOSEBERRY FAMILY. 



Smooth or spiny shrubs, sometimes copiously furnished with resin glands. 

 Leaves few or numerous and clustered : blades usually lobed or cleft : stipules, 

 if present, adnate to the petiole. Flowers sometimes imperfect, of various colors, 

 solitary in the axils or in loose axillary racemes. Perianth of 2 series. Hypan- 

 thium oblong or subglobose. Calyx of 4 or 5 sepals. Corolla 4 or 5 scale-like petals 

 inserted at the base of the calyx. Androecium of 4 or 5 stamens inserted with the 

 petals. Filaments variable in length. Gynoecium a compound pistil. Ovary 

 inferior, 1-celled or very rarely 3 or 4-celled. Styles mostly united or 2-lobed. 

 Ovules usually numerous, borne in 2 or more rows on 2 parietal placentae. 

 Fruit a globose or oblong berry crowned by the more or less persistent calyx, 

 pulpy within. Seeds somewhat angled. Testa gelatinous without, crustaceous 

 within. Endosperm fleshy. Embryo terete, at the base of the endosperm. 



1. RIBES L. 



Characters of the family. GOOSEBERRY. CURRANT. The plants flower in the spring. 



Plants usually armed with firm spines : peduncles 1-3-flowered. (Gooseberries.) 

 A. Calyx-lobes longer than the limb : berry smooth and glabrous. 



Hypanthium glandular-pubescent : petals lanceolate, with 2 lateral teeth. 1. E. curvahtm. 



Hypanthium glabrous : petals cuneate or spatulate, toothless. 



Filaments pubescent : spines slender and relatively long : bark reddish or 



purplish. 2. It. gracile. 



Filaments glabrous : spines stout or short : bark gray. 



Filaments slightly longer than the sepals : species Alleghenian. 3. R. rotundifolium. 



Filaments conspicuously longer than the sepals : species campestrian. 4. R. Missourieme. 



