512 KOSACEAE 



constricted at the middle, about 3 mm. long, spreading : petals cuneate, about 1 mm. long : 

 stamens shorter than the sepals : berries globose, 5-8 mm. in diameter. 



In deep woods, common on the mountains, Labrador to the Northwest Territory south to North 

 Carolina, Michigan and Colorado. FETID CURRANT. 



8. Rib S3 aureum Pursh. A glabrous or glabrate shrub, 1-4 m. tall, with bright 

 green or glaucous foliage. Leaf-blades firm, 2-6 cm. broad, 3-5-lobed, rounded, truncate 

 or rarely subcordate at the base, the lobes slightly toothed near the apex ; petioles gla- 

 brous or puberulent, shorter than the blades : racemes 1-5 cm. long, drooping, few-many- 

 flowered : pedicels 5-10 mm. long, subtended by somewhat leafy bracts : hypanthium 

 elongated, 1.2-2 cm. long: sepals oblong-obovoid, rounded at the apex, spreading or re- 

 curved : petals spatulate-obovate, 3 mm. long, eroded, erect : stamens shorter than the 

 petals, erect : filaments shorter than the anthers : berries globose, smooth, 8-12 mm. in 

 diameter, varying from yellow to black. 



In valleys, Northwest Territory to Minnesota, Texas and California. Cultivated eastward. BUF- 

 FALO, GOLDEN or MISSOURI CURRANT. 



FAMILY 10. PLATANACEAE Lindl. PLANE-TREE FAMILY. 

 Handsome trees, with a watery sap and a thin pale smooth exfoliating 

 bark. Leaves alternate : blades membranous-leathery, palmately lobed : peti- 

 oles subtended by thin, entire or toothed, sheathing stipules. Flowers monoe- 

 cious, minute, inserted on globose receptacles, in dense pedunculate solitary, 

 spicate or racemose heads. Perianth much reduced. Staminate heads red : 

 calyx of 3-6 scale-like sepals : corolla of 3-6 scale-like petals, longer than the 

 sepals : stamens as many as the sepals and opposite them ; filaments nearly ob- 

 solete : anthers elongated, each surmounted by a large connective. Pistillate 

 heads green : calyx of 3-6, or usually 4 sepals : corolla of 3-6, or usually 4 

 rounded petals : carpels as many as the sepals, 1-celled, mingled with staminodia 

 which are pilose at the apex, surrounded by long-jointed persistent hairs : style 

 terminal, stigmatose to below tTe middle on the ventral suture. Ovules solitary 

 or rarely 2, horizontal, orthotropous : fruit an elongated achene, surrounded by 

 rigid hairs, with a thin leathery pericarp, crowded in dense globose heads. 

 Seed pendulous, elongated, with a thin membranous testa. Endosperm fleshy. 

 Embryo straight in the axis of the endosperm. 



1. PLATANUS L. 



Characters of the family. PLANE-TREE. BUTTON-WOOD. BUTTON-BALL. 



1. Platanus occidentalis L. A forest tree, reaching a height of 55 m., with a trunk 

 diameter of 3 m. Bark thin, pale, scaly : leaves conspicuous ; blades suborbicular in out- 

 line, 3-5-lobed, 10-20 cm. in diameter, becoming glabrous, except the woolly-pubescent 

 nerves beneath, truncate or cordate at the base, the lobes more or less prominently toothed, 

 the teeth acuminate : petioles ^ or ^ as long as the blades, pale, tomentose : fruiting heads 

 globose, 2-4 cm. in diameter, solitary at the ends of, or rarely spicate on, slender drooping 

 tomentose or glabrate peduncles which vary from 8-15 cm. in length. 



Along streams and in moist woods, Maine to Ontario and Nebraska. Florida and Texas. Spring. 



FAMILY 11. ROSACEAE Juss. ROSE FAMILY. 



Herbs, shrubs or trees, or. rarely vines, various in habit. Leaves mostly 

 alternate : blades simple or compound : stipules often present, sometimes con- 

 spicuous. Flowers perfect, or rarely dioecious, variously disposed. Calyx of 5 

 or rarely 4-9 sepals, surmounting the more or less highly developed hypanthium, 

 often accompanied by as many scale-like bractlets. Corolla of as many distinct 

 petals as there are sepals, or wanting. Androecium of 1 or more series of sta- 

 mens. Filaments distinct. Anthers 2-celled. Gynoecium of 1 or many carpels, 

 on a depressed or elongated receptacle. Ovary 1-celled or imperfectly 2-celled. 

 Style terminal, lateral or basal. Ovules 1, 2 or several in each cavity. Fruit 

 various, mostly follicles, drupelets or achenes, these sometimes raised on a con- 

 spicuously accrescent receptacle. Endosperm wanting or rarely present. 



A. Fruit not enclosed in a depressed or hollow hypanthium. 



a. Pistils few, rarely more than 5, maturing into 2-4-seeded follicles. 



Follicles opening along both sutures : seeds shining. 1. OPULASTER. 



Follicles opening along one suture : seeds dull or granular. 

 * Pistils alternating with the sepals. 



