6S Soapberry ( Sapindacece) 



same number, colored. Stamens, six to eight. Styles, 

 two, long and slender, and united only below. Seed- 

 case, free, two-lobed and two-celled, with two young 

 seeds in each cell (only one ripening). June. 



Leaves, simple, opposite, three- (or slightly five-) lobed, 

 the lobes toothed ; downy beneath ; more or less 

 heart-shaped at base. Bark, light gray. 



Fruit, in drooping clusters, two-winged, two-seeded ; a 

 double samara or "key." 



Found, usually in clumps in moist and hilly woods, widely 

 distributed from Maine to Wisconsin, and northward ; 

 and southward along the Alleghanies to Virginia and 

 Kentucky. 



A shrub six to fifteen feet high, easily distinguished 

 by its bark and leaves from its near relation and frequent 

 neighbor, the Striped Maple ( A. Pennsylvdnicum, L.J, 

 which is often of no greater height, though ranked with 

 the trees, and which has a similar liking for damp and 

 hilly woods. The latter has larger and differently shaped 

 leaves (Fig. 74, Trees of Northeastern America), and a 

 greenish bark, peculiarly marked lengthwise with stripes. 



(2) Genus Staphylea, L. (Bladder-Nut.) 



From a Greek word meaning " cluster." 



Fig. 21. American Bladder-Nut. S. trifblia, L. 



Flowers, white, handsome, in short, drooping clusters at 

 the ends of the branchlets. Petals, five, not united. 

 Stamens, five, alternating with the petals. Sepals, 

 five, whitish. Styles, three, lightly united. Seed- 

 case, free from the calyx, but with its base slightly 

 sunk in the fleshy receptacle ; with three cells, each 

 cell containing several young seeds. 



