The Mountain Mahoganies 



421 



scars. The leaves are alternate, sometimes opposite, oblong to lanceolate, 4 to 8 

 cm. long, taper-pointed, or rarely rounded at the apex, abruptly wedge-shaped or 

 rounded at the slightly unequal base, remotely glandular-toothed, leather^', bright 

 yellowish green and smooth 

 above, finely woolly and promi- 

 nently net- veined beneath; the 

 leaf-stalk is thick, grooved on 

 the upper side, 8 to 12 mm, 

 long; the deciduous stipules are 

 very small and sharp-pointed. 

 The flowers, which appear in 

 spring, are borne in loose, 

 branching panicles 5 to 8 cm. 

 across, leafy below and bracteate 

 above; the stalks are slender, 

 whitish hairy; the persistent ca- 

 lyx is short, obconic, leathery, 

 with 5 sharp erect lobes; the 5 

 petals are orbicular to oblong, 

 reflexed and persistent; the 15 

 to 25 stamens are in three or four rows, the outer row borne opposite the petals, 

 those within being alternate; filaments equal or some shorter, awl-shaped; anthers 

 2-celled, opening lengthwise; the pistil is 5-carpeled, the carpels united below into 

 a 5-celled hairy ovary terminated by 5 short, spreading styles with small terminal 

 stigmas. The fruit is a woody, ovoid, 5-celled, hairy capsule 8 mm. long, sub- 

 tended by the 5 conspicuous, Hght red, persistent petals; the capsules remain on 

 the branchlets until the following season, finally splitting into segments tipped by 

 the remnant of the style. There are two seeds in each carpel, terminated by an 

 oblong wing. 



The wood is hard, close-grained, dark brown, its specific gravity about 1.13. 



This genus, of which V. corymbosa Correa, is the type species, is confined to 

 western North America; two additional species are known; both Mexican shrubs 

 or small trees. The name is in commemoration of the celebrated French chemist, 

 Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, who died in 1829. 



Fig. 368. Vauquelinia. 



II. THE MOUNTAIN MAHOGANIES 



GENUS CERCOCARPUS HUMBOLDT, BONPLAND AND KUNTH 



ERCOCARPUS is composed of small trees or shrubs of the drier 

 regions of western North America, where about 8 species have been 

 detected. 



The leaves are alternate, simple, mostly leather}', more or less 

 persistent, with prominent spreading veins, short, stout leaf-stalks and adnate, 



