7G CELASTRACE^E. (STAFF-TREE FAMILY.) 



3. M. 1 latifolia, Swartz. Smooth ; branchlets 4-anglcd ; leaves opposite, 

 coriaceous, obovate, rounded or emarginate at the apex, narrowed at the base 

 into a short petiole, the margins revolute and obscurely crenate ; cymes axillary 

 and terminal, shorter than the leaves, widely spreading, few-flowered, or in the 

 more sterile plant many -flowered ; sepals roundish, much shorter than the oblong 

 petals ; disk with four emarginate lobes alternating with the stamens ; ovary 

 2-celIed, with a single suspended ovule in each cell ; stigma sessile, 2-lobed ; 

 drupe ovoid, 1 -seeded ; embryo large, in thin albumen. South Florida. 

 Shrub 8 - 10 high. Leaves 1' long. 



2. SCIOEFFEIIIA, Jacq. 



Flowers dioecious. Sepals 4, barely united at the base, rounded, 3-furrowed. 

 Petals 4, spatulate-oblong, much longer than the calyx. Stamens 4. Ovary 

 2-celled. Stigmas 2, sessile. Drupe dry, 2-celled, 2-seedcd. Embryo in oily 

 albumen. Radicle inferior. Shrubs or trees, with alternate leaves and small 

 greenish flowers in axillary clusters. 



1. S. frutescens, Jacq. Smooth; leaves obovatc-oblong, entire, acute or 

 obtuse ; flowers 3 - 5 in a cluster, the slender pedicels arising from a wart-like 

 peduncle ; drupe globose. South Florida. A small tree with hard and close- 

 grained wood. Leaves 1^' long, pale green. 



3. ETJONYMUS, L. SPIXDI.K-TREE. 



Flowers perfect. Calyx flat, 4-5-cleft. Petals 4-5, spreading. Stamens 

 4 - 5, very short, inserted with the petals under the broad and fleshy disk which 

 surrounds the ovary. Ovary 3 - 5-celled, with 2 erect or resupinate ovules in 

 each cell. Style very short. Capsule 3 -5-celled, loculicidally 3-5-valved. 

 Seed enclosed in a red pulpy aril. Erect or trailing shrubs, with 4-angled 

 branches, opposite serrate leaves, and greenish or purplish flowers in axillary 

 pcduncled cymes. 



1. E. Americanus, L. (STRAWBERRY BUSH.) Flowers greenish, 

 pcntamerous ; peduncles 1 - 3-flowered ; capsule warty; leaves short-petioled, 

 varying from ovate or obovate to linear-lanceolate, serrulate. Low shady 

 woods, Florida and northward. May and June. Shrub 3 - 6 high. Leaves 

 l'-2' long. 



2. E. atropUTpureilS, Jacq. Flowers purple, tetramerous ; peduncles 

 many-flowered ; capsule smooth ; leaves oblong, on rather long petioles, serru- 

 late. River-banks, Florida and northward. May and June. Shrub 8 - 12 

 high. Leaves 2' - 5' long. Flowers dark purple. 



4. CELASTRUS, L. STAFF-TREE. 



Flowers somewhat dioecious. Calyx cup-shaped, 5-cleft. Petals 5, spreading. 

 Stamens 5, inserted with the petals into the edge of the cup-shaped fleshy disk 

 which fills the tube of the calyx, abortive in the fertile flower. Ovary 2-4- 

 celled, the cells 2-ovuled. Stvle thick. Capsule globose, commonly 3-celled 



