CELASTRINE.E. 71 



HAB. Rocky woods. Can. to Car. W. to Ken. April. >>. 

 Shrub 3 5 feet high, covered with sharp strong prickles. Leaves 

 pinnate, sometimes prickly on the back. Flowers in umbels, 

 small, greenish The bark of this shrub is pungent, and is em- 

 ployed medicinally. Big, Med. Bot. iii. 156. Prickly Ash. 



2. PTELEA. Linn. 



Calyx small, 4 5-parted. Petals 4 5, spreading. Sta- 

 mens alternating with the petals. Tories turnid, pentagonal. 

 Ovary 1. Style short. Stigmas 2. Samarce membrana- 

 ceous, margined, 2-celled ; cells 2 or by abortion 1-seeded. 



Tetandria. Monogynia. 



Pt. trifoliate, Linn. : leaves on long petioles, ternate ; leafets sessile, 

 ovate, acuminate, odd one much attenuated at base ; flowers in pani- 

 cles, polygamous, often tetandrous. 



HAB. Moist woods. Can. to Geor. W. to Miss. June. *>. 

 Shrub 6 10 feet high. Flowers greenish- white, small, in co- 

 rymbose clusters. Shrubby Trefoil. 



SUBCLASS II. CALYCIFLORjE. De Cand. 



Calyx with the sepals more or less united at base, (gamo- 

 sepalous, De Cand. monophyllous, Linn.^) Petals and sta- 

 mens inserted into the calyx. 



ORDER XXXI. CELASTRINE^E. De Cand. Lind. 



Sepals 4 or 5, imbricated, inserted into the margin of a 

 large expanded torus. Petals 4 5, with a broad base ; aesti- 

 vation imbricated. Stamens alternate with the petals, insert- 

 ed into the disk, either at the margin or within it ; anthers in- 

 nate. Ovary superior, free, surrounded by the somewhat 

 fleshy djsk, with 2, 3 or 4 cells ; cells 1, or many-seeded ; 

 style 1 or none ; stigma 2 4-cleft. Fruit superior ; either a 

 3 or 4-celled capsule, with 3 or 4 septiferous valves ; or a dry 

 drupe with a 1 or 2-celled nut, the cells of which are one or 

 many-seeded. Seeds ascending ; albumen fleshy ; embryo 

 straight ; cotyledons flat and thick. 



Shrubs with simple alternate or opposite leaves. Flowers 

 in axillary cymes. 



1. EVONYMUS. Linn. 



Calyx 4 6-lobed, flat, covered at base by a peltate disk. 

 Petals 4 6, spreading, inserted into the disk. Stamens 46, 



