68 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.), 

 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 STAPHVLEA, L. (Bladder-Nut.) 



From a Greek word meaning " cluster." 



Fig. 2i. American Bladder- Nut. S. trifolia, 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. 



