606 FLORA. 



2. PACHYSTIMA Raf. 



Low glabrous shrubs, with corky branches, coriaceous evergreen leaves, and 

 small axillary, perfect brownish flowers. Calyx-lobes 4, broad. Petals 4, spread- 

 ing. Stamens 4, inserted beneath the disk; filaments longer than the anthers. Ovary 

 immersed in the disk, 2-celled; ovules 2 in each cavity, erect; style short; stigma 

 slightly 2-lobed. Capsule oblong, compressed, 2-celled, at length loculicidally de- 

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

 species, natives of N. Am. P. Myrsinites occurs in the Rocky Mountains. 



i. Pachystima Canbyi A. Gray. CANBY'S MOUNTAIN LOVER. (I. F. f. 

 2369.) A shrub 1-3 dm. high, with decumbent rooting branches. Leaves oblong, 

 or slightly obovate, 1.2-2 cm. long, 3-4 mm. wide, obtuse at each end, very short- 

 petioled, pale green, serrate, the margins revolute; peduncles I 3-flowered, 2- 

 bracted below the middle; pedicels slender and 2-bracted near the base; calyx- 

 lobes oval, about equalling the petals; capsule about 8 mm. long and 4 mm. in 

 diameter. On dry exposed rocks, Va. and W. Va. April-May. 



3. CELASTRUS L. 



Shrubs, mainly climbing, with thin deciduous leaves, and racemose or panic- 

 ulate, 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 2-4-lobed, 2-4- celled; style thick; stigma 2-4-lobed; ovules 2 

 in each cavity, erect. Capsule 2-4-celled, loculicidally dehiscent into as many 

 valves. Seeds enclosed in a scarlet aril; embryo straight; endosperm fleshy; coty- 

 ledons flat, coriaceous. [Greek name of some evergreen tree.] About 30 known 

 species, only I in N. Am. 



i. Celastrus scandens L. SHRUBBY OR CLIMBING BITTERSWEET. WAX- 

 WORK. (I. F. f. 2370. ) Ascending trees to a height of 8 m. or more, or trailing. 

 Leaves ovate, oval or obovate, 5-10 cm. long, 2.5-5 cm ' wide, acuminate or acute 

 at the apex, crenulate; petioles 1.2-1.8 cm. long; flowers greenish, about 4 mm. 

 broad, in terminal compound racemes 5-10 cm. in length; petals crenate, much 

 longer than the calyx-lobes; capsule yellow, or orange, 1-1.2 cm. in diameter, 

 opening in autumn and exposing the showy red aril. In rich soil, Quebec to N. 

 Car., Manitoba, Kans., the Ind. Terr, and N. Mex. June. 



Family 8. STAPHYLEACEAE DC. 



Bladder-nut Family. 



Trees or shrubs, with mostly opposite odd-pinnate or 3-foliolate stipu- 

 late leaves and regular perfect flowers in terminal or axillary clusters. 

 Sepals, petals and stamens usually 5. Carpels mostly 3. Disk large, the 

 stamens inserted at its base without. Anthers introrse, 2-celled. Fruit a 

 dehiscent bladdery capsule in the following genus, indehiscent in some 

 others. Seeds solitary or few in each carpel ; testa hard ; endosperm 

 fleshy; embryo straight. About 5 genera, and 22 species, widely distributed. 



i. STAPHYLEA L. 



Shrubs, with axillary drooping racemes or panicles of white flowers. Pedicels 

 jointed. Sepals imbricated. Petals the same number as the sepals and about 

 equalling them. Ovary 2-3-parted, the lobes i -celled; ovules numerous in each 

 cavity, anatropous. Capsule 2-3-lobed, 2-3-celled. Seeds globose. [Greek, clus- 

 ter.] About 6 species, of the north temperate zone; S. Bolanderi A. Gray, in Cal. 



i. Staphylea trifolia L. AMERICAN BLADDER-NUT. (I. F. f. 2371.) A 

 shrub, 2-4 m. high, with smooth striped bark. Young leaves and petioles pubescent; 

 mature foliage glabrate; stipules linear, 8-12 mm. long, caducous; leaflets ovate or 

 oval. 4-7 cm. long, acuminate, finely serrate, the lateral ones sessile or nearly so, 

 the terminal one stalked; stipels subulate; flowers campanulate, about 8 mm. long; 

 pedicels slightly longer than the flowers; capsule alxmt 5 cm. long, 2.5 cm. wide, 

 much inflated, the 3 (rarely 4) carpels separate at the summit and dehiscent along 

 the inner side. In moist woods and thickets, Quebec and Ont. to Minn., S. Car. and 

 Kans. April-May. 



