Vox,. II.] 



FALSE MERMAID FAMILY. 



385 

 I8 3 6. 



Family 61. LIMNANTHACEAE Lindl. Nat. Syst Ed. 2, 142. 



FALSE MERMAID FAMILY. 



Annual herbs, with alternate petioled exstipulate pinnately divided leaves. 

 Flowers perfect, regular, white pink or red, axillary, long-peduncled. Sepals 

 2-5, valvate, persistent. Petals the same number as the sepals, alternating with 

 as many small glands, the nearly perigynous stamens twice as many, distinct. 

 Filaments filiform; anthers 2-celled, the sacs longitudinally dehiscent. Carpels 

 as many as the sepals and opposite them, i-ovuled, nearly distinct, the single 

 slender style arising from the centre as in Geraniaceae, cleft above into as many 

 stigmas as there are carpels; ovule ascending. Fruit very deeply 2-5-lobed, the 

 carpels indehiscent, rough or tubercled. Embryo straight; endosperm none; 

 cotyledons thick. 



Two North American genera, the following, and Limnanthes, of the Pacific States, with 5 or 6 

 species. 



i. FLOERKEA Willd. Neue Schrift. Ges. Nat. Fr. 3: 448. 1801. 



An annual diffuse glabrous herb, with small white solitary flowers. Sepals 2-3, valvate. 

 Glands 2-3. Petals 2-3, oblong, entire. Stamens 4-6. Ovary 

 2-3-lobed nearly to the base, 2-3-celled; stigmas 2-3. Ma- 

 ture carpels 1-3, rugose, indehiscent, fleshy. Seed erect. 

 [In honor of H. G. Floerke, 1790-1835, a German botanist] 



A monotypic genus of northern North America. 



i. Floerkea proserpinacoides Willd. False 

 Mermaid. (Fig. 2346.) 



Floerkea proserpinacoides Willd. Neue Schrift. Ges. Nat. Fr. 3: 



448. 1801. 



Slender, weak, 4 / -i5 / long, branching. Leaves thin, slen- 

 der-petioled, ^ / ~3 / long, the segments 5 or 3, distant, lanceo- 

 late, oblong or linear-oblong, acute or obtusish, entire or 

 cleft; peduncles slender, elongating in fruit; flowers white, 

 about \y>" broad; sepals ovate, acute, at length much exceed- 

 ing the fruit; stamens about equalling the petals; ripe carpels 

 nearly globular, about \W i diameter, tuberculate above. 



In marshes and along rivers, Quebec to Ontario and Oregon, 

 south to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Utah, and California. 

 April-June. 



Family 62. ANACARDIACEAE Lindl. Nat. Syst. 1830. 



SUMAC FAMILY. 



Trees or shrubs, with acrid resinous or milky sap, alternate or rarely oppo- 

 site leaves, and polygamo-dioecious or perfect, mainly regular flowers. Calyx 

 3-7-cleft. Petals of the same number, imbricated in the bud, or rarely none. 

 Disk generally annular. Stamens as many or twice as many as the petals, 

 rarely fewer, or more, inserted at the base of the disk; filaments separate; 

 anthers commonly versatile. Ovary in the stauiinate flowers i-celled. Ovary 

 in the pistillate flowers i- or sometimes 4-5-celled; styles 1-3; ovules i in each 

 cavity. Fruit generally a small drupe. Seed-coat bony or crustaceous; endo- 

 sperm little or none; cotyledons fleshy. 



About 50 genera and 400 species, most abundant in warm or tropical regions, a few ex- 

 tending into the temperate zones. 



Styles terminal ; leaves compound in our species; fruit nearly symmetrical. i. Rhus. 



Styles lateral; leaves simple; fruit gibbous. 2. Cotinus. 



i. RHUS L. Sp. PI. 265. 1753. 

 [TOXICODENDRON Mill. Gard. Diet. Ed. 7. 1759.] 



Shrubs or trees, with alternate simple 3-foliolate or odd-pinnate leaves, no stipules, and 

 small polygamous flowers in axillary or terminal panicles. Calyx 4-6-cleft or parted (com- 

 monly 5 cleft), persistent. Petals equal, imbricated, spreading. Disk annular. Stamens 

 (in our species) 5. Pistil i, sessile; ovary i-ovuled; styles 3, terminal. Drupe small, 

 i-seeded, mostly subglobose, pubescent or glabrous. Seed inverted on a stalk that rises from 

 the base of the ovary; cotyledons nearly flat. [Ancient Greek and Latin name; Celtic, red.] 



25 



