CAPER FAMILY 107 



2. A. laevigata Poir. A smooth, leafy-stemmed biennial, 1-2 ft. 

 high, covered with a bloom. Stem leaves lance-linear, clasping. 

 Flowers small and whitish, the petals hardly longer than the sepals. 

 Pods 2-3 in. long, flattened, spreading, and recurved; seeds broadly 

 winged. Rocks. 



3. A. canadensis L. SICKLE POD. An upright, leafy-stemmed 

 biennial, 2-3 ft. high, simple or slightly branching above, sometimes 

 slightly hairy at the base. Stem leaves sessile, oblong-lanceolate, 

 pointed at both ends, downy ; the lower ones toothed. Flowers small, 

 whitish, the petals twice as long as the sepals. Pods scythe-shaped, 

 much flattened, hanging from hairy pedicels ; seeds broadly winged. 

 Rocky hillsides. 



41. CAPPARIDACEJE. CAPER FAMILY 



Herbs (when growing in cool temperate regions), with bitter 

 or nauseous juice. Leaves alternate, usually palmately com- 

 pound. Flowers often not actinomorphic, usually bisexual. 

 Sepals 4-8. Petals 4 or wanting. Stamens 6 or more. Ovary 

 and pod 1-celled, with 2 rows of ovules ; seeds kidney-shaped. 



I. POLANISIA Raf. 



Ill-smelling annual plants covered with glandular or clammy 

 hairs. Sepals distinct, spreading. Petals with claws, notched 

 at the tip. Stamens 8-32, of various lengths. Receptacle not 

 lengthened. Pod linear or oblong, rather large, many-seeded. 



1. P. graveolens Raf . A very strong-scented, leafy, branching herb, 

 6-15 in. high. Leaves with 3 oblong leaflets. Flowers small, pinkish 

 and yellowish-white, in the axils of leafy bracts, in terminal racemes. 

 Stamens 8-12, not much longer than the petals. Pod about 2 in. 

 long, slightly stalked. Gravelly banks. 



II. CLEOME L. 



Mostly annual herbs. Stems branched. Leaves petioled, 

 simple, or with 3-7 entire or serrate leaflets. Flowers in 

 bracted racemes. Sepals 4, often persistent. Petals 4, often 

 long-clawed, nearly equal, entire. Stamens 6, filaments thread- 

 like, usually projecting much, but sometimes 1-3 much shorter 

 than the others, inserted on the short receptacle. Ovary on a 



