STAPHYLEACE^E. (ULADDER-NL'T FAMILY.) 77 



and 3-valved. Seeds 1 - 2 in each cell, enclosed in a fleshy scarlet aril. Embryo 

 in the axis of copious fleshy albumen. Climbing shrubs, with alternate leaves, 

 and small greenish flowers in axillary or terminal racemes. 



1. C. scandens, L. Leaves oblong-ovate or obovate, acuminate, serrate, 

 smooth ; racemes terminating the branches, nearly simple ; capsule orange- 

 colored. Woods and banks of streams along the mountains of North Carolina, 

 and northward. June. 



5. MAYTENUS, Juss. 



Flowers polygamous. Calyx flat, 5-cleft. Petals 5. Stamens 5, very short, 

 inserted with the petals under the edge of the flat circular disk which envelops 

 the ovary. Ovary 2-3-cellcd, with a solitary erect ovule at the base of each 

 cell. Style very short and thick. Stigma 2-3-lobed. Capsule coriaceous, 

 1 -3-celled, loculicidally 2 -3-valved, yellow within. Seeds 1-3, enclosed in a 

 thin pulpy aril. Embryo in the axis of thin fleshy albumen. Trees or shrubs. 

 Leaves opposite or alternate. Flowers chiefly in axillary clusters. 



1. M. phyllanthoides, Benth. Leaves fleshy, alternate, oblong-obo- 

 vate, obscurely crenate and reticulate, glabrous ; flowers minute, clustered, ap- 

 parently perfect; capsule obovate, 3-angled, 1-celled, 1-3-sceded. South 

 Florida. Leaves 1' 1' lon. 



ORDER 41. STAPHYL-EACE^. (BLADDER-NUT FAMILY.) 



Erect shrubs, with opposite pinnate stipulate leaves, and perfect regular 

 pontandrous flowers. Calyx 5-parted, colored. Petals and stamens 5, 

 perigynous. Ovary 2 - 3-celled. Ovules 1-8 in each cell, attached to 

 the central angle of the cell. Fruit, capsular or baccate. Seeds bony, 

 truncated at the base. Embrvo straight in scanty albumen. 



1. STAPHYLEA, L. BLADDER-NUT. 



Flowers perfect. Calyx erect, persistent. Petals obovate, erect, alternate 

 with the sepals, imbricated in the bud. Stamens inserted with the petals into 

 the edge of the 5-lobed disk which fills the base of the calyx. Ovary 3-celled, 

 the cells sometimes separate above, 6-8-ovuled. Capsule 3-lobcd, mcmbrana- 

 ccous, inflated, few-seeded. Leaflets stipcllate. Flowers white, in drooping 

 compound racemes. 



1. S. trifolia, L. Leaves trifoliolatc ; leaflets ovate, acuminate, serrate, 

 pubescent beneath, the terminal one long-stalked ; racemes lateral and terminal ; 

 styles 3, connivcnt ; capsule reticulated, I - 3-seedcd. Damp woods, North 

 Carolina, Tennessee, and northward. May. Shrub 10 high. Capsules 2' 

 long, 1' in diameter. 



