OEDEB XXXVI. ACERACE^J. ORDER XLIII. LEGUMTNOSJi. 



tary. Styles 3 6, distinct, or united Fruit a drupe ; or less 

 commonly a bony, 1-seeded" nut. 



A chiefly tropical order of plants, distinguished by their resinous, often poi- 

 sonous, juice, which frequently furnishes material for varnishes. The fruit, 

 however, is generally harmless, or even edible and delicious, as the Mango ant' 

 Cashew-nut The lihus (Sumach), is the only native of the North. 



ORDER XXXVI. Aceraceae. 



Trees, or shrubs. Leaves opposite, without stipules, simple, 

 and palmately lobed, or pinnate. Flowers often polygamous. 

 Sepals 5, rarely 4 9, colored, more or less united. Petals as 

 many as the sepals, or none. Stamens hypogynous, 3 12, 

 usually 8, distinct. Ovary of 2 partly united carpels, forming a 

 double samara in fruit. Ovules 2 in each cell. Seeds 1 in a cell. 



An order containing many noble and useful trees, natives of the Northern 

 Temperate Zone. Several species of the Acer (Maple), fig. 5, yield sugar ; but 

 cone so abundantly as the Rock-Maple (Acer Saccharinum). 



Fig. 5. 



ORDER XXXVII. Hippocastanaceae. 



Trees, or shrubs. Leaves opposite, destitute of stipules. 

 Flowers showy, with articulated pedicels. Calyx campanulate, 

 consisting of 5 united sepals. Petals 5, unequal, 1 sometimes 

 wanting. Stamens 6 8, commonly *7, distinct, unequal, inserted 

 on the disk together with the petals. Ovary consisting of 3 

 united carpels, 3-celled, with 2 ovules in each celL Style 1, 

 filiform. Fruit subglobose, coriaceous, with 1 3 large roundish 

 seeds. Cotyledons thick and fleshy. 



A small order of ornamental trees, with astringent bark, represented among 

 us by the species of Horse-Chestnut (jBsculus), one of which has been intro- 

 duced from Asia. Another is the true Buck-eye, and native of the West, es- 

 pecially Ohio. 



ORDER XXXVIII. CelastraceaB. 



Shrubs, or trees. Leaves alternate, or opposite, simple. Se- 

 pals 4 5. Petals 4 5, inserted on the flat disk surrounding the 

 ovary. Stamens as many as the petals, alternate with them, in- 

 serted on the margin of the dist Ovary free from the calyx. 

 Fruit a capsule, or berry, with 1 5, 1 few-seeded cells. Seeds 

 usually arilled. 



A small unimportant order, of which Celastrus (False Bitter-sweet), and 

 Euonymus (Burning-bush), are examples. 



ORDER XXXIX. Rhamnacese. 



Shrubs, or trees, often with spinose branches. Leaves simple, 

 alternate, rarely opposite. Flowers small. Sepals 4 5, united' 

 at base, valvate m prefloration. Petals 4 5, inserted in the 

 throat of the calyx, cucullate, or convolute, sometimes wanting. 



Stamens 4 5, inserted opposite the petals. Ovary of 2 4 



united carpels, 2 4-ceIled, usually more or less free from (he 

 calyx, sorm-tinies immersed in the fleshy disk surrounding it. 

 Fruit a berry, or a capsule with dry and separable carpels. 

 Seeds without an aril. 



An order of shrubby plants, distinguished by the bitter and astringent quali- 

 ties of the bark. Kmaintu (Ruck-thorn), and Ceanothus (Jersey-tea), are ex- 

 amples. The berries of Buck-thorn are cathartic, and are used in medicine. 

 They also yield the paint called Sap green. The genuine jujube-paste is 

 derived from several sjxjcies of Zizyphus, a genus of this order. 



ORDER.XL Staphyleaceee. 



Shrubs. Leaves opposite, compound. Flowers regular. Se- 

 pals 5, colored, persistent. Petals 5, alternate with the sepals. 

 Stamens 5, inserted in the disk surrounding the ovary. Styles 3, 

 nearly, or quite distinct. Ovary of 3 carpels, becoming in fruit 

 an inflated, 3-seeded, 3-celled capsule, 3-parted at apex. Seeds 

 bony and nut-like, several in a cell. 



A small order nearly allied to the last, of which Staphylea (Madder-nut), 

 is the principal genus. 



ORDER XLI. Vitaceaa. 



Woody plants, climbing by tendrils. Leaves simple, or com- 

 pound, often alternate. Flowers small, often polygamous, or dioa- 

 cious. Calyx very small, entire, or with 4 or 5 teeth, lined by a 

 disk. Petals 4 or 5, inserted on the margin of the disk, often co- 

 hering by their tips, and caducous. Stamens 4 or 5, opposite the 

 petals, and inserted with them. Ovary 2-celled. Style short, or 

 none. Fruit a globose, usually pulpy berry, often 1-celled, and 1 

 or few-seeded by abortion. 



Vitis, the Grape-vine, is the most important plant of the order. 



GROUP VHI. 

 ORDER XLII. Polygalaceae. 



Herbs, or somewhat shrubby plants. Leaves usually alter- 

 nate, sometimes verticillate, simple. Flowers perfect, irregular. 

 Sepals 6, distinct, usually persistent, very irregular ; 3 exterior 

 and smaller; the 2 lateral, interior ones larger, and petaloid. 

 Petals irregular, usually 3, the anterior one (the keel), larger than 

 the others, and usually crested, or 3-lobed. Stamens 6 8, hy- 

 pogynous. Filaments united into a tube, which is split on the 

 upper side, and more or less coherent to the claws of the petals. 

 Ovary compound, free from the calyx, consisting of 2 united car- 

 pels, sometimes 1-celled by the suppression of the upper cell. 

 Style curved, often cucullate. Fruit opening in a loculicidal 

 manner ; or indehiscent. 



The genus Polygala, one species of which is tho well-known Seneca Snake- 

 root, contains our only representatives of this family, which is generally distin- 

 guished by active properties, and by a bitter principle, that pervades the whole 

 order. 



ORDER XLIII. Leguminosae. 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees. Leaves alternate, often compound. 

 Stipules present, sometimes deciduous. Calyx consisting usually 

 of 5, more or less united sepals. Petals 5, either papilionaceous, 

 or regular. Stamens perigynous, sometimes hypogynous, diadel- 

 phous, monadelphous, or distinct. Ovary single, and simple. 

 Fruit a legume, assuming various forms, sometimes divided into 

 several 1-seeded joints, as in fig. 12, Plate XXVII., when it is called 

 a loment; while the proper legume is seen in the Pea. Seeds 

 solitary, or several, destitute of albumen. The order is divided 

 into 3 sub -orders, Papilionacese, Caesalpineae, and Mimosas. 

 Papilionacese has papilionaceous flowers, 10 stamens, diadel- 

 phous, sometimes monadelphous, rarely distinct, inserted on the 

 bottom of the calyx The Pea, Bean, and Locust-tree are fami- 

 liar examples. The peculiar structure of this sub-order, which 



