:,. II.] STAFF-TREE FAMILY 



4. Euonymus Europaeus L/. Spindle- 

 tree. (Fig. 2368.) 



Euonymus Europaeus L. Sp. PI. 197. 1753. 



A glabrous shrub, 3-9 high, resembling the 

 preceding species. Leaves oblong, to ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, crenulate; peduncles 

 mostly less than i / long, stouter; cymes 3-7- 

 flowered; flowers greenish yellow, about 5" 

 broad; petals 4 (rarely 5), oblong or obovate; 

 capsule smooth, deeply 4-lobed. 



Escaped from cultivation into copses and along 

 roadsides. Southern New York and New Jersey. 

 June. Old English names Arrowbeam, Prick-tim- 

 ber, Prickwood, Cat-tree, Pegwood, Pincushion 

 Shrub, Skiver-wood, Witchwood. 



2. PACHYSTIMA Raf. Am. Month. Mag. 2: 176. 1818. 



Low branching glabrous shrubs, with corky branches, opposite coriaceous evergreen 

 leaves, and small axillary solitary or clustered, perfect brownish flowers. Calyx-lobes 4, 

 broad. Petals 4, spreading. Stamens 4, inserted beneath the disk; filaments longer than 

 the anthers. Ovary immersed in the disk, 2-celled; ovules 2 in each cell, erect; style very 

 short; stigma slightly 2-lobed. Capsule oblong, compressed, 2-celled, at length loculicidally 

 dehiscent, i-2-seeded. Seeds oblong with a white many-lobed aril at the base. 



Two species, natives of North America. P. 

 Myrsmitcs occurs in the Rocky Mountains. 



i. Pachystima Canbyi A. Gray. 



Canby's Mountain Lover. 



(Fig. 2369.) 



Pachystima Canbyi A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 

 8: 623. 1873. 



A shrub 4 / -i2 / high, with decumbent 

 rooting branches. Leaves oblong, or slightly 

 obovate, 6 // -io // long, i^'-a" wide, ob- 

 tuse at each end, very short petioled, pale 

 green, serrate, the margins revolute; pe- 

 duncles i-3-flowered, 2-bracted below the 

 middle; pedicels slender and 2-bracted 

 near the base; calyx-lobes oval, about 

 equalling the petals; capsule oblong, about 

 4" long and 2" in diameter, dehiscent at 

 maturity. 



On dry exposed rocks, mountains of Virginia 

 and West Virginia. April-May. 



3. CELASTRUS L. Sp. PI. 196. 1753. 



Shrubs, mainly climbing, with alternate thin deciduous leaves, and terminal or axillary, 

 racemose or paniculate, small dioecious or polygamous flowers. Calyx 5-lobed. Petals 5, 

 inserted under the disk. Stamens in the sterile flowers 5, inserted at the sinuses of the 5- 

 lobed disk. Ovary inserted on the disk, 2-4-lobed, 2-4-celled; style thick; stigma 2-4-lobed; 

 ovules 2 in each cell, erect. Capsule 2-4-celled, loculicidally dehiscent into as many valves. 

 Seeds 1-2 in each cell, enclosed in a scarlet aril; embryo straight; endosperm fleshy; coty- 

 ledons flat, coriaceous. [Greek name of some evergreen tree.] 



About 30 species, i in North America, numerous in eastern Asia, several in Australia and 

 Madagascar. 



