38 



LEGUMINOS^:. (PEA FAMILY.) 



3. NEGUNDO, Mcench. BOX-ELDER. 



Flowers dioecious. Calyx minute. Petals and disk none. Stamens 4 or 5. Ovary 

 and fruit as in Acer. Trees; leaves pinnate; sterile flowers on clustered capillary pedi- 

 cels, the fertile in drooping racemes. 



1. N. Californicum, Torr. & Gr. Usually a small tree; leaves 3-foliolate, villous; 

 leaflets ovate or oblong, acute, 3 or 4 inches long, the terminal largest and 3-5-lobed or 

 coarsely serrate, -the lateral ones coarsely serrate; fruit pubescent; wings slightly 

 spreading. 



In the figure a represents the fruit of Acer ma- 

 ll crophyllum, b the wider spreading samara of Acer 

 circinatum, and c the closer wings of Neyundo 

 Californicum. The first has hairy carpels; the 

 second is smooth, and the last slightly hairy. 



ORDER ANACARDIACE-Sl is represented 

 by the well-known Poison Oak or fihus dive.rsiloba, 

 a slender, sometimes climbing, shrub, resembling 

 the eastern lihus toxicodendron, which is also often 

 called Poison Oak, but is more commonly known 

 as Poison Ivy. The eastern Sumac belongs to the 

 same genus. There are three other species of 

 Rlius in the State. The Pepper tree (Schinus 

 molle), so commonly cultivated as an ornamental 

 shade tree, belongs to this order. 



ORDER 20. LEGUMINOSJE. 



The single and simple free pistil becoming a legume in fruit, the alternate leaves with 

 stipules, and in our genera, the papillionaceous corolla with 10 stamens, mark this order, 

 one of the largest and most important in the vegetable kingdom. 



Flowers irregular. Calyx 3-5-cleft or toothed, persistent. Corolla of 5 petals, the 

 tipper larger and always external, covering the lateral pair in the bud, and these cover- 

 ing the lower pair, which are more or less united, forming a keel which encloses the 

 stamens and pistil. Filaments 10, rarely 5, commonly united around the pistil, either 

 all united or nine and the upper one free. Ovary forming a pod with a single row of 

 seeds attached to one side; style usually inflexed or curved. In Cercts the upper petal is 

 small and enclosed by the wings. In AmorpJia, there is but one petal. 



Suborder Ccesalpmeae is marked by the upper petal enclosed, and distinct stamens. 



Suborder Mimoseae has regular flowers and usually many conspicuous stamens. 



