STAPHYLE V A. 147 



SUBCLASS II. CALYCIFLCTR^. 



Petals separate, inserted in the Calyx. 



ORDER XIX. STAPHYLEA S CE^. 



ORD. CHAR. Sepals 5, connected at the base, coloured, with an imbricated 

 aestivation. Petals 5, alternate. Stamens 5. Disk large. Ovary 2 3-celled. 

 Fruit membranous or fleshy. Shrubs, natives chiefly of warm climates. 

 (Lindl.) 



Leaves compound, opposite, stipulate, deciduous. Flowers terminal. 

 Fruit a bladdery capsule. The only hardy ligneous plants belonging to this 

 order are contained in the genus Staphylea. 



GENUS 



STAPHYLE'A L. THE STAPHYLEA, or BLADDER-NUT TREE. Lin.Syst- 

 Pentandia Di-Trigynia. 



Identification. I in. Gen , No. 374. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 2. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 2. 



Synonymes. Staphylodendron Tourn. ; Staphilier, faux Pistachier, Fr. ; Pimpernuss, Ger. ; Sta- 



filea, Hal. 

 Derivation. Abridged from Staphylodendron, its name before the days of Linnaeus, derived from 



staphule, a bunch or cluster, and dendron, a tree ; the flowers and fruits being disposed in clusters, 



and the plant being ligneous. 



Gen. Char. Calyx of 5 coloured sepals, connected at the base, in aestiva- 

 tion imbricate. Petals 5, in aestivation imbricate. Stamens 5, perigynous, 

 alternate with the petals, and opposite the sepals. A large urceolate disk, 

 or nectary, within the corolla. Ovarium 2- or 3-celled, superior. Fruit 

 membraneous. Seeds with a bony testa, and a large truncate hilum. (Lindl.) 

 Leaves compound, opposite, stipulate, deciduous ; pinnate, with both com- 

 mon and partial stipules. Flowers in terminal stalked racemes. Two 

 hardy species, low trees or shrubs ; natives of Europe and North America, 

 of easy culture in any common soil, and propagated by seeds, which ought 

 to be sown as soon as they are ripe, or by cuttings. 



& 1. S. TRIFO^LIA L. The three-leaved Staphylea, or Bladder-nut Tree. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 386. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 2. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 2. ; Tor. and Gray, 1. p. 256. 

 Synonymes* Staphilier & Feuilles ternees, Fr. ; Virginische Pimpernuss, Ger. 

 Engravings. Schmidt Baum., t. 81. ; our fig. 197. in flower, and fig. 198. in fruit. 



Spec. Char., fyc. The leaf of 3 leaflets, which are ovate, acuminate, regularly 

 sawed, and, when young, pubescent ; the style smooth; the capsule bladdery. 

 (Dec. Prod.} A deciduous shrub or low tree. Canada to South Carolina, 



and west to Arkansas, in moist places. Height 6 ft. 



to 12 ft. Introduced in 1640. Flowers whitish ; May 



and June. Nuts globose, in a bladdery capsule, white; 



ripe in October. Decaying leaves 



greenish yellow. 



Branches slender, smooth, and 



dotted. Petioles pubescent above. 



Partial stipules mostly none. 



Petals obovate-spatulate, ciliate at 



the base. Stamens rather exserted j 



filaments hairy below ; anthers M- s. 



cordate; the lobes somewhat united at the tip. Capsule 2 in. long; the carpels 

 (sometimes 4) distinct at the summit, tipped with the persistent styles, and 



rning by the inner suture; seeds smooth and polished, all but one often 

 rtive. (Torrey and Gray.} When not trained to a single stem, this shrub 

 throws out abundance of shoots resembling suckers from the collar ; but, if 



L 2 



