CELASTRACE.E. (STAFF-TUEK FAMILY.) 109 



» Leaves deciduous ; Jlowers in sessile clusters, or the fertile solitary ; fruit briijlit 



red. 



7. I. verticill^ta, Gray. (Black Alder. WixTKnnEnRv.) Leaves 

 oval, obovate, or wedge-lanceolate, pointed, acute at lnuso, sorrute, dou-nij on 

 the veins beneath ; Jlowers all very short-peduncled. — Low grounds; common. 

 May, June. 



8. I. laevigata, Gray. (Smooth Wintek«erkv.) Leaves lanceolate or 

 oblong-lanceolate, pointed at bt)th en(b, appressed-serrulate, shining al»ovo, 

 beneath mostly r//a6rt»MS ; sterile Jlowers lon(j-peduTicled. — Wet grounds, Maine' 

 to the mountains of Va. June. — Fruit larger than in tlie List, rijteniiig 

 earlier in the autumn. 



« * Leaves coriaceous, evergreen and shining , often black-dotted beneath ; fruit 



black: 



9. I. glabra, Gray. (Inkbekrv.) Leaves wedge-lanceolato or oblong, 

 sparingly toothed toward the apex, smooth; peduncles (.V long) of the sterile 

 flowers 3 - 6-flowered, of the fertile 1-flowered; calyx-teeth rather blunt. — 

 Sandy grounds, Cape Ann, Mass., to Va., and southward near the coast. June. 

 — Shrub 2-3° high. 



2. NEMOPANTHES, Raf. Mountaix Hollv. 



Flowers polygamo-dioecious. Calyx in the sterile flowers of 4-5 minute de- 

 ciduous teeth, in the fertile ones obsolete. Petals 4-5, oblong-linear, spread- 

 ing, distinct. Stamens 4 - 5 ; filaments slender. Drupe with 4-5 bony nutlets, 

 light red. — A much-branched shrub, with ash-gray bark, alternate and oblong 

 deciduous leaves on slender petioles, entire or slightly toothed, smooth. P'low- 

 ers on long slender axillary peduncles, solitary or sparingly clustered. (Name 

 said by the author to mean " flower with a filiform peduncle," therefore prob- 

 ably composed of vrj/iia, a thread, irovs,foot, and 6.vQos, flower.) 



1. N. fasciCUl^ris, Raf. (N. Canadensis, DC.) — Damp cold woods, 

 from the mountains of Va. to Maine, Ind., Wise, and northward. May. 



Order 26. CELASTRACE^. (Staff-tree Family.) 



Shrubs with simple leaves, and small regular Jlowers , the sepals and the 

 petals both imbricated in the bud, the 4 or 5 perigynous stamens as many as 

 the petals and alternate with them, inserted on a disk which flU the bottom 

 of the calyx and sometimes covers the ovary. Seeds arilled. — Ovules ono 

 or few (erect or pendulous) in each cell, anatropous ; styles united into 

 one. Fruit 2-5-cellc(l, free from the calyx. Embryo large, in fleshy 

 albumen; cotyledons broad and thin. Stipules minute and fugacious. 

 Pedicels jointed. 



* Leaves alternate. Flowers in terminal racemes. 



1. Celastrus. A shrubby climber. Fruit globose, orange, 3-valved. Aril scarlet. 



* * Leaves opposite. Flowers in axillary cyiues or solitary. 



2. Euonymus. Ereotshrubs. Leaves deciduous. Fruit 3-5-li)l)ed. .T-.Vvalved. ,\rilred. 

 8. Pachystima. Dwarf evergreen shrub. Flowers very small. Fruit oblong, 2-v:ilvcd. 



Aril white. 



