4 SYNOPTICAL KEY. 



with alternate dissected leaves without stipules. 



19 Oxalidacete. Flowers 5-merous : sepals imbricated and petals mostly 



convolute in the bud : carpels combined into a 5-celled and few-many- 

 oyuled capsule. Low herbs with sour juice and alternate or radical 

 trifoliate leaves. 



= = = Flowers very irregular. 



20 Balsaminaceae. Sepals 5, imbricated in the bud : petals 4, united in 

 pairs, rarely 5 and distinct: fruit-a- 5-eelled several-seeded capsule. 

 Coarse succulent herbs with entire leaves without stipules. 



* * * * Ovary compound with central placentae: stamens borne up- 

 on a more or le<ss perigynous disk: flowers mostly polygamous or dioe- 

 cious: calyx persistent or the limb deciduous: cells of the ovary 1-few- 

 ovuled: seeds mostly erect or ascending and albuminous. 



21 Celastraceae. Flowers perfect, 4-5-merous : capsule 2-5-celled : seeds 



arillate. Shrubs with opposite pinnately veined leaves and no stipules. 



22 Rhaiiinacete. Calyx valvate, the 4 or 5 lobes alternate with as many 



stamens, deciduous: petals often none: style often 4- or 5- lobed or 



cleft : fruit a berry, drupe-like, or dry, 1-4-celled. Shrubs or trees with 



simple leaves and small stipules. 

 28 Vitacese. Flowers 4-5-merous : calyx minute : petals valvate with a 



stamen at the base of each : fruit a 2-celled, 2-4-seeded berry. Woody 



vines climbing by tendrils. 

 24 Aceraceae. Flowers dioecious or polygamous, often apetalous : styles 



1-3: fruit, in ours, a double samara or a single'follicle. Trees or shrubs 



with opposite, rarely alternate, leaves and mostly no stipules. 



f5 Anacardiaceaa. Flowers mostly 5-merous: stigmas 3: fruit a drupelet. 

 Shrubs with milky juice and alternate leaves without stipules. 



2, Stamens perigynous (upon the calyx) or epigynous (upon 

 the top of the ovary J. 



* Ovary superior or nearly so. 

 i_ Carpels solitary or distinct. 



26 Leguminosae. Flowers mostly irregular : stamens 10, rarely fewer, 

 mostly monadelphous (all united) or diadelphous (9 and 1) : carpel soli- 

 tary, becoming a legume. Herbs shrubs or trees with alternate stipu- 

 late leaves. 



27 AmygdalaceaB. Carpel solitary or rarely 5, becoming a drupe, entirely 



free from the calyx ; ovules 2, pendulous : seed usually solitary. 



28 Pom ace ae. Carpels 2-5, enclosed in the fleshy calyx- tube, with 2 erect 

 ovules in each cell. Trees or shrubs with free stipules. 



29 Rosaceae. Flowers regular, mostly 5-merous, or the stamens usually 



numerous : carpels 1-many, becoming achenes. Herbs shrubs or trees 

 with alternate, mostly stipulate leaves. 



- *- Carpels united or free : seeds mostly albuminous: leaves sim- 

 ple; stipules none, or adnate to the base of the petiole. 

 80 Saxifragaceae. Flowers 5-merous ; styles or tips of the carpels distinct 

 and soon divergent; fruit a 2-celled capsule. Herbs with mostly alter- 

 nate simple leaves without distinct stipules. 

 31 Hydrangeaceae. Flowers 5-merous: fruit a 3-5-celled capsule. Shrubs 



with opposite simple leaves without stipules. 

 32 Ribesiaceae. Fiowers 5-inerous : fruit a 1-celled berry. Shrubs with 



alternate simple leaves with adnate stipules or none. 



38 Crassulaceae. Flowers 3 or 5-merous: stamens nearly hypogynous: 

 carpels 3-5, becoming 1-many-seeded follicles. 



