ORDEB 40. ACERACELE. 285 



thickness, covered with a grayish, scaly bark, and throws out all along its length 

 myriads of thread-like rootlets, which bind it firmly to its support. Leaflets 3, 

 of a dark and shining green, the lowest rarely angular. Berries dull white. Fls. 

 greenish. May, Jn. The juice, like that of the last, is poisonous, and forms an 

 indelible ink. (R. tox. /?. MX. and Ed. 2d.) 



8 R. aromatica Ait. SWEET SUMAC. L/ts. sessile, incisdy crcnate, pubescent 

 beneath, lateral ones ovate, terminal one rhomboid ; fls. in close amenta, preced- 

 ing the leaves ; drupe globous, villous. A small, aromatic shrub, 2 to 6f high, 

 in hedges and thickets, Can. and U. S. Lfts. 1 to 2' long. as wide, sessile, the 

 common petiole an inch or two in length. Fls. yellowish with a 5-lobed, glandu- 

 lar disk. Drupes red, acid. May. Not poisonous. 



9 R. Cotinus L. VENETIAN SUMAC. Lvs. obovate, entire; fls. mostly abortive, 

 pedicels finally elongated and clothed with hairs. A small shrub 8f high, native 

 in Ark. according to Nuttall (?), remarkable chiefly for the very singular and orna- 

 mental appearance of its long, diffuse, feathery fruit-stalks, showing in the dis- 

 tance as if the plant were enveloped in a cloud of smoke. Fls. small, in terminal, 

 compound panicles. Lvs. smooth, entire, much rounded at the end. In Italy 

 the plant is used for tanning. 



10 R. cotinoides Buckley. A large tree, 40 to 50f in height, in woods on the 

 high mts. of N. Car. (Buckley). Also in Ark. (Nuttall ?). "We have seen no 

 specimens, and are unable to give the specific differences between this new 

 epecies and R. Cotinus, if, indeed, it be distinct, as is probable. 



ORDER XXXIX. PITTOSPORACE^E. 



Trees or Shrubs, with alternate, exstipulate leaves and regular flowers. Calyx 

 and corolla 4 or 5-merous, imbricated in the bud, deciduous ; stamens 5, hypogynous, 

 alternate with the petals. Ovary free, style single, stigmas 2 or more, cells or pla- 

 centa as many. Seeds numerous ; embryo in fleshy albumen. 



Genera 12, species 78, chiefly from Australia. 



PITTOSPORUM, Solander. (Gr mrra, pitch, aTropog, seed ; the cap- 

 sule is resinous.) Sepals 5, deciduous; petals 5, conniving in a tube; 

 capsule 2 to 5-celled, 2 to 5-valved ; seeds pulpy. Handsome ever- 

 green shrubs. 



P. tobira Leland. Lvs. coriaceous, smooth and polished, obovate, obtuse ; caps. 

 3-valved. This plant is hardy in the gardens, south, and common in the green- 

 house, north. Lvs. entire, beautifully dark-green and shining. Fls. in terminal 

 clusters, white, very fragrant. 



ORDER XL. ACERACE^. MAPLES. 



Trees or shrubs, with opposite, usually simple and 

 palmate-veined leaves. Stipules 0. Flowers often 

 polygamous, in axillary corymbs or racemes, hypo- 

 gynous. Sepals 5, rarely 4 to 9, more or less united, 

 colored, imbricate in aestivatioD. Petals 5, rarely 

 4 to 9, hypogynous; sojnetimes 0. Sta. usually 8, 

 on a fleshy disk. Ovary 2-lobed, compounded of 2 

 united carpels. Fr. a double samara with opposite 

 wings, thickened at the lower edges. Albumen 0. 

 (Illust. in Figs. 22, 26, 107, 475, 480.) 



Genera 3, species GO. The sap of several species of the 

 maple yields sugar by evaporation. 



1. ACER, Moench. MAPLE. (The ancient 

 name, meaning sharp, vigorous.) Flowers 

 S $ 2; calyx 5 (4 9)-cleft: corolla 5 



634, Samara of Maple. J \ / 



