Drummond's Soapberry 



665 



and somewhat hairy beneath. The flowers appear in early spring, the dense and 

 upright finely hairy clusters i to 2 dm. long; the sepals are round, blunt, about 2 

 mm. broad, the petals broadly obovate, about 3 mm. long, and hairy-fringed; the 

 stamens of staminate flowers are about as long as the petals, those of pistillate 

 flowers shorter; the filaments are hairy; the ovary is ovoid. The ripe fruits arc 

 globular, 10 to 18 mm. in diameter, shining, the pulp orange-brown, the seed black, 

 obovoid. 



The wood is dense, light brown, heavy, its specific gravity being about 0.83. 

 The tree is known also as False dogwood. 



2. FLORIDA SOAPBERRY Sapindus marginatus WiUdenow 



An inhabitant of moist sandy soil in Florida, this tree attains a maximum 

 height of about 10 meters, with a trunk 3 dm. in diameter; its branches are nearly 

 erect. It was first discovered in 

 Georgia, but is not at present known 

 to grow in that State; it has also been 

 reported as occurring on the coast of 

 South Carolina. 



The bark is Hght brown, the young 

 twigs finely hairy, becoming smooth 

 and pale gray. The leaves are hairy 

 when young, becoming smooth or 

 nearly so, and have 7 to 13 leaflets; the 

 leaf-rachis is not winged, but is some- 

 times narrowly margined; the leaflets 

 are lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 

 somewhat scythe-shaped, long-pointed, 

 short- stalked, 5 to 15 cm. long, un- 

 equal-sided, bright green above, paler 

 on the under side; the flower-clusters 

 are hairy, 3 dm. long or less; the 

 flowers are 4 or 5 mm. wide, opening 

 in May and June ; the sepals are oval or nearly orbicular, blunt, the petals ovate 

 or oval, hair\^ with 2 basal appendages, and are longer than the sepals. The fruit 

 is globular or oval, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, keeled on the back, the pulp Hght yeUow 

 or orange, the seed browTi and obovoid. 



Fig. 617. Florida Soapberry. 



3. DRUMMOND'S SOAPBERRY Sapindus Dnunmondi Hooker and Arnott 



Drummond's soapberry grows in river valleys and on hillsides, from southern 

 Missouri to Louisiana, the Indian Territory, New Mexico and northern Mexico. 

 It reaches a maximum height of about 16 meters, with a trunk 6 dm. thick, but is 



