150 KEY AND FLORA 



57. CELASTRACE^. Wahoo Family 



Trees or shrubs, sometimes climbing. Leaves simple, oppo- 

 site or alternate. Flowers small, in cymes. Calyx small, 

 4-5-lobed, persistent. Petals 4-6, short. Stamens 4-6, alter- 

 nate with the petals and inserted with them on a disk. 

 Ovary sessile, 3-5-celled ; style entire or 3-5-cleft ; ovules 2 in 

 each cell. Seeds usually covered with an appendage (aril) grow- 

 ing from the hilum, 



I. EVONYMUS L. 



Shrubs with 4-angled branches. Leaves opposite. Flowers 

 in axillary, peduncled cymes, purplish or greenish, small. 

 Sepals and petals 4-5, spreading. Stamens as man}" as the 

 petals, short. Ovary 3-5-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell. 

 Seeds inclosed in a red, fleshy pulp.* 



1. E. atropurpureus Jacq. Wahoo. A tree-hke shrub 10-15 ft. 

 high. Leaves oval to ovate, taper-f)ointed, finely serrulate, minutely 

 downy petioles i-f in. long. Peduncles slender, 3 -forked, several-flow- 

 ered. Flower purplish. Capsule deeply 3-5-lobed, smooth. River banks. 



2. E. americanus L. Strawberry Bush. A shrub 3-8 ft. high. 

 Leaves short-petioled, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acute or taper-j^ointed 

 at the apex, finely serrulate, smooth or slightly hairy. Peduncles 

 axillary, slender, 1-3-flowered. Flowers greenish. Capsule 3-5-angled, 

 warty. In Ioav, shady woods. 



3. E. obovatus Nutt. Running Strawberry Bush. A low shrub, 

 the trailing and rooting branches not usually rising more than 1 or 

 2 ft. from the ground. Leaves thin, obovate or oblong, mostly taper- 

 ing to the base. Flowers and fruit nearly as in E. americanus. In 

 damp woods. 



II. CELASTRUS L. 



A woody, twining shrub. Leaves alternate. Flowers dioe- 

 cious or somewhat monoecious, small, greenish, clustered at 

 the ends of the branches. Pod 3-celled, 3-valved, looking like 

 an orange-colored berry, which on opening shows the scarlet 

 arils of the seeds. 



1. C. scandens L. Waxwork, Climbing Bittersweet. Climb- 

 ing 10-15 ft. Leaves ovate-oblong, 2-4 in. long, finely serrate, 

 taper-pointed. In thickets and along fences ; also planted for the 

 showy scarlet seeds, which retain their color for many months. 



