140 CELASTRACE^. Staphylba. 



p. 369 ; Torr. Jl.l. p. 325 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 121 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 2 ; Hook. fl. Bor.- 

 Am. 1. ;>. 119 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 209 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 256. 



A shrub 6-12 feet high, with straight, slender, smooth and dotted branches. Leaves on 

 long pubescent petioles : leaflets 2-4 inches long, thin and membranaceous, the lateral ones 

 nearly sessile, terminal one on a petiole more than an inch long. Common and partial sti- 

 pules subulate, very caducous. Kacemes or panicles pendulous, axillary and terminal. Petals 

 obovate-spatulate, ciliate at the base. Stamens slightly exserted : filaments hairy below: 

 anthers cordate. Capsule about the size of a pigeon's egg, sometimes 4-lobed, distinct at the 

 summit, acuminate, and tipped with the persistent styles, opening by the inner suture. Seeds 

 1-3, obovoid, smooth and polished. 



Rocky places, particularly along rivers. May. Fruit mature in September. 



Tribe IL EUONYMEJE. DC. 



Seeds furnished with an arillus. Cotyledons mostly foliaceous. — Leaves simple, entire or 

 serrate, with minute deciduous stipules. Flowers in terminal racemes or axillary cymes. 



2. CELASTRUS. Linn, (partly); Kunth, syn. 4. p. 185; Endl. gen. 5679. 



SHRUBBY BITTERSWEET. 

 [An ancient Gieek name of a ^lant, supposed to be allied to this genus.] 



Flowers, by abortion, somewhat dioecious or polygamous. Petals 5, united below into a very 

 short turbinate calyx-tube. Petals 5, ovate or oblong, sessile. Stamens inserted on the 

 margin of the orbicular fleshy disk. Ovary 3-celled, sealed on the disk : ovules 2 in each 

 cell, erect. Styles short and thick : stigma 3-lobed. Capsule globose, coriaceous, 2-3- 

 celled, the dissepiments sometimes incomplete or loculicidal. Seeds 1 - 2 in each cell, 

 enclosed in a pulpy arillus : testa membranaceous. Embryo enclosed in a rather thin al- 

 bumen, nearly the length of the seed : cotyledons broad and foliaceous : radicle short. — 

 Climbing, unarmed shrubs. Leaves alternate, thin. Stipules minute. Racemes terminal, 

 somewhat compound, the lower part often leafy : pedicels articulated. Flowers small, pale 

 yellowish-green. 



1. Celastrus scandens, Linn. Bitterstoeet. Wax-work. 



Leaves oval or obovate, acuminate, with glandular incurved serratures, smooth ; petals 

 obovate-oblong. — Willd. sp. 1. p. 1125 (e.xcl. syn.); " Schk. handb. 1. t. 47;" Michx. ft. 1. 

 p. 154 ; Gcert. fr. t. 95 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 167 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 92 ; Torr. fl. I. p. 262 ; 

 DC. prodr. 2. p. 6 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 148; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 257. 



Stem twining around shrubs and small trees, or along stone fences, 10 -20 feet long. 

 Leaves 2-3 inches long, rather variable in form, but usually more or less obovate, acute at 

 the base. Stipules very minute, setaceously 2 - 3-parted, deciduous. Racemes, or rather 



