DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 103 



m. NEGUN'DO, Box Elder 



A small tree, with leaves pinnately compound with 3 leaf- 

 lets. Flowers dioecious, apetalous. Staminate flowers in 

 umbels with very slender pedicels. Fertile flowers in droop- 

 ing racemes. Fruit of 2, winged carpels with wings almost 

 parallel. 



N. Califor'nicum Torr. & Gray. This grows along streams in the 

 Coast Mountains, but is not very abundant. 



RHAMNA'CE^E. BUCKTHORN FAMILY 



Shrubs or trees with simple leaves and small flowers. 

 Calyx valvate in the bud. Stamens opposite the petals. 

 Ovary with from 2 to 4 cells. Stigmas with as many lobes 

 as there are cells to the ovary. Seed solitary in each cell. 



I. RHAM'NUS, Coffee Berry, Cascara Sagrada 



Leaves alternate, with stipules that soon fall. Calyx tube 

 urn-shaped with a 4 or 5 cleft margin. Petals very small or 

 none. Ovary a drupe containing 2 or 3 stones. 



a. R. cro'cea Nutt. Leaves evergreen, almost orbicular, small, shin- 

 ing above, inclined to be yellow beneath, sharply toothed. Flowers with 

 the parts in fours. Berries red. Throughout California. 



b. R. Califor'nica Esch. Leaves evergreen, 1-4 in. long, -2 in. 

 wide, elliptical, denticulate, or nearly entire. Fruit black-purple, 

 2-seeded. Throughout California. 



c. R. Purshia'na DC. This sometimes becomes a tree. Leaves 

 deciduous, elliptical, pubescent beneath, 2-7 in. long, 1-3 in. wide. 

 Petals cleft at the apex. Fruit black, 3-seeded. This is more com- 

 mon in northern California and extends to British Columbia. 



H. CEANO'THUS, California Lilac 



Trees, or more often shrubs, with small, simple leaves. 

 Flowers small, blue or white, in. cymes or panicles. Calyx 

 bell-shaped, with colored margin. Petals with a small claw, 

 the blade forming a hood. Ovary half immersed in the disk, 



