Celastrus. CELASTRACEiE. 141 



panicles, 1 - 2 inches long. Flowers only 2-3 lines in diamolcr. Segments of the calyx 

 oblong. Petals ovate-oblong, obtuse. Capsule about one-third of an inch in diameter, of an 

 orange color when mature ; the valves widely opening in dehiscence, each marked with a 

 central ridge or imperfect dissepiment on the inside. Seeds elliptical-oblong, reddish brown, 

 coated with a thick bright orange or scarlet arillus. Albumen oily. 



Borders of woods, banks of rivers, and along fences ; common. Fl. Early in June Fr. 

 September. — The plant is said to be narcotic and stimulating. It is sometimes employed as 

 a domestic medicine in the Western States. 



3. EUONYMUS. Tourn. inst. t. 388 ; Endl. gen. 5676. spinulb-Tree. 



[ "Named from Buonyme, mother to the Furies ; in allusion to the injurious efTects produced by the fruit of this plant." 



Hooker.] 



Sepals 4-5, united at the base, spreading. Petals 4-5. Stamens inserted on the upper 

 surface of the broad flat fleshy disk : filaments short : anthers with a broad connectivum at 

 the back ; the cells opening transversely or longitudinally. Ovary half immersed in the 

 disk ; the cells as many as the petals, each with 2-3 ovules. Style short and thick : 

 stigma obtuse or lobed. Capsule 4 - 5-lobed, 4 - 5-celled, loculicidal. Seeds 1 - 2 in 

 each cell, usually enclosed in a fleshy or pulpy, red or purple arillus. Embryo with broad 

 foliaceous cotyledons : albumen fleshy and oily. — Shrubs erect, trailing, or climbing by 

 rootlets. Leaves opposite, serrate. Stipules mostly wanting. Peduncles a.xillary, cy- 

 mosely few- or one-flowered. 



1. EuoNYMus-ATROPURPUREUs, Jocq. Buming-bush. Indian Arrow. 



Branches smooth ; leaves oval or elliptical-oblong, acuminate, mostly aoule" at the base, 

 finely serrate, on distinct petioles, puberulent imderneath ; peduncles divaricately cymose, 

 several-flowered ; parts of the flower usually in fours ; petals roundish-obovate ; capsules 

 smooth, deeply lobed. — " Jacq. hort. Vind. 2. U 120 ;" Willd. sp. l.p. 1 132 ; Michcc. fl. 1 . 

 p. 155 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 293 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 4 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 261 ; Darlingt. ft. Cest. 

 p. 149 ; Torr. (^ Gr. I. p. 258. 



A shrub 6 - 10 - 12 feet high ; the branches somewhat quadrangular and straight. Leaves 

 3-4 inches long, thin, conspicuously acuminate ; the petiole half an inch or more in length. 

 Peduncles 1-2 inches long, 5 - 7-flowered ; the flowers of a dark purple color. Capsule 

 crimson when mature. Seeds ellij)tical, whitish, nearly enclosed in the bright-rcd, succulent 

 arillus. 



Moist woods and along rivers, in the western part of the State. Fl. June. Fr. October. 



From this shrub is prepared the " Wa-a-hou," a quack medicine of some re])utation {Dr. 

 Knieskern). 



