MENISPERMACEAE 453 



petals fully twice as long as the sepals, obtuse : fruit subglobose, 6-10 cm. long, rose-col- 

 ored, the carpels obtuse or acutish : seeds flattened, obovoid, about 1 cm. long. 

 In woods, Kentucky to Florida, Louisiana and Arkansas. Spring. 



5. LIRIODENDRON L. 



An elegant and stately tree, with spreading and drooping branches. Leaves alternate : 

 blades leathery -membranous, deciduous, 4-lobed and notched at the apex, slender-petioled, 

 the large stipules deciduous. Flowers perfect, greenish yellow, solitary at the ends of 

 branches. Sepals 3, petioled, imbricated, reflexed. Petals 6, imbricated in 2 series, nearly 

 erect. Stamens numerous, imbricated in several series, slightly shorter than the petals : 

 filaments slender : anthers linear, extrorse, adnate to the outside of the filaments. Carpels 

 numerous, closely imbricated on the slender receptacle forming a conic-fusiform spike. Ova- 

 ries 1 -celled, prolonged into a winged style with a small recurved stigma at the end. 

 Ovules 2 in each cavity, pendulous, anatropous. Fruit a cone formed of the accrescent 

 indehiscent carpels. Seeds 1-2 in each carpel, with a thin leathery testa. TULIP-TREE. 

 WHITE POPLAR. 



2. Liriodendron Tulipifera L. A forest tree, reaching a maximum height of 60 m. 

 with a trunk diameter of 3 m. Bark broken into large flat ridges : leaf-blades orbicular 

 or depressed-orbicular in outline, 6-20 cm. in diameter, dark green above, paler beneath, 

 truncate or notched at the apex, truncate or subcordate at the base, 4-lobed, the lobes 

 entire or toothed ; petioles 5-10 cm. long : flowers campanulate, 5-7 cm. broad : sepals ob- 

 long or oblong-obovate, 4-5 cm. long, rounded at the apex : petals oblong, oval or subor- 

 bicular, somewhat longer than the sepals, greenish yellow, often tinged with orange, nar- 

 rowed into broad claws : fruit conic, 5-7 cm. long, (erect, persistent : mature carpels 

 indehiscent, samara-like, 3-4 cm. long. 



In woods and swamps, Vermont to Rhode Island, Michigan, Missouri, Florida, Mississippi and Ar- 

 kansas. Spring. 



FAMILY 5. MENISPERMACEAE DC. MOONSEED FAMILY. 



Twining or trailing vines, either wholly or partly woody, with a watery 

 bitter sap. Leaves alternate, without stipules : blades entire or palmately 

 lobed, sometimes peltate. Flowers dioecious, or polygamous, in racemes, pani- 

 cles or cymes. Calyx of 6 sepals, or these fewer or more. Corolla of 6 or more 

 petals, or rarely wanting. Androecium of 6-12 stamens or rarely of many. Fil- 

 aments distinct. Anthers 2-4-celled, opening lengthwise. Gynoecium of 36 

 distinct carpels or rarely more. Ovules solitary, amphitropous. Fruit berry- 

 like drupes. Seeds with crescent-like or annular embryos. Endosperm scant. 



Petals none : anthers 2-celled : stigma apical at maturity. 1. CALYCOCARPUM. 



Petals present : anthers mostly 4-celled : stigma bent around to the base of the fruit. 



Staminate flowers with 6 stamens : drupe red or purple. 2. CEBATHA. 



Staminate flowers with 12-24 stamens : drupe black. 3. MENISPERMUM. 



1. CALYOCARPUM Nutt. 



Perennial vines, with twining stems. Leaves alternate : blades palmately 3-5-lobed. 

 Flowers dioecious, not showy, in '" slender raceme-like axillary panicles. Sepals 6, in 2 

 unequal series. Petals wanting. Stamens 12, imperfect in the pistillate flowers : filaments 

 distinct. Carpels 3, erect. Ovary 1-celled, sessile : stigma radially cleft. Ovule soli- 

 tary in each cavity. Drupes barely elongated, the flesh thin over a smooth laterally bowl- 

 shaped stone. Embryo curved, with flat cotyledons. CUP-SEED. 



1. Calycocarpum Lyonii (Pursh) Nutt. A high climbing vine, with twining stems. 

 Leaf-blades membranous, suborbicular in outline, 6-20 cm. long, palmately 3-7-lobed, 

 truncate to cordate at the base, the lobes acuminate ; petioles as long as the blades or longer : 

 flowers inconspicuous ; Staminate in elongated panicles ; pistillate in shorter panicles : 

 sepals 6, oblong, 2-2.5 mm. long, obtuse : petals wanting : stamens shorter than the sepals : 

 drupes subglobose or oval, about 2.5 cm. long, black, the stone toothed along the edge of the 

 cavity. 



Along streams and in rich woods, Illinois to Kansas, Florida and Louisiana. Spring. 



