90 SOAPBERRY FAMILY. 



L STAPHYLEA, BLADDER-NUT. (Name from a Greek word for a 



bunch of grapes, little applicable. ) 



S. trifdlia, AMERICAN B. Shrub 8 -10 high, with greenish striped 

 branches, 3 ovate pointed sen-ate leaflets, deciduous stipules, and hanging 

 raceme-like clusters of white flowers at the end of the branchlets of the season, 

 in spring, followed by the large bladdery pods. Low ground, common N. & W. 



S. pinnata, EUROPEAN B., occasionally planted, is very similar, but has 



2. CARDIOSPERMUM, BALLOON- VINE, HEART-SEED. (The 

 latter is a translation of the Greek name. ) 



C. Halicacabum, the common species, wild in the S. W. States, is cult, 

 in gardens, for the curious inflated pods ; it is a delicate herb, climbing over 

 low plants or spreading on the ground, with small white flowers, in summer. 



3. KCELREUTERIA. (Named for Kcelreuter, a German botanist.) 



K. paniculata, a small tree from China, planted in ornamental grounds ; 

 has pinnate leaves of numerous thin and coarsely toothed or cut leaflets, and a 

 terminal ample branched panicle of small yellow flowers, in summer, followed 

 by the bladdery pods. 



4. SAPINDUS, SOAPBERRY. (Sapo Indus, i. e. Indian soap, the berries 

 used as a substitute for soap. ) 



S. marginatUS, wild S. & W. : a small tree, with 8-20 broadly lanceolate 

 falcate leaflets on a wingless but often margined common stalk, and small white 

 flowers in panicles, in summer, the whitish berries as large as bullets. 



5. -aSSCULUS, HORSE-CHESTNUT, BUCKEYE. (Ancient name 

 of an Oak or other mast-bearing tree, applied to these trees on account of 

 their large chestnut-like seeds. These, although loaded with farinaceous 

 nourishment, are usually rendered uneatable, and even poisonous, by a bitter 

 narcotic principle. ) Flowers in a terminal crowded panicle, in late spring or 

 early summer. 



1. TRUE HORSE-CHESTNUTS : natives of Asia, with broad and spreading 

 petals on short claws, and fruit more or less beset with prickly points. 



JE. Hippocastanum, COMMON H. Tall fine tree, with 7 leaflets, and 

 large flowers of 5 petals, white, and spotted with some purple and yellowish ; 

 stamens 7, declined : of late there is a double-flowered variety. 



IE. rubicunda, RED H. Less tall, flowering even as a shrub, with 

 brighter green leaves of 5-7 leaflets, flowers with 4 rose-red petals not so 

 spreading, and mostly 8 stamens less declined. Probably a hybrid between 

 Horse-Chestnut and some red Buckeye. 



2. Californian, with 4 broad spreading petals on rather slender claws. 

 M. Califdrnica, CALIFORNIAN H. Low tree, of 5 slender-stalked leaf- 

 lets, and a long very compact raceme-like panicle of small white or rosy-tinged 

 flowers ; stamens 5-7, slender ; fruit large, with some rough points. 



3. BUCKEYES : of Atlantic U. S., with 4 erect and smaller petals on slender claws. 



JE. parvifldra, SMALL BUCKEYE. Wild in the upper country S., and 

 planted N. ; shrub 3 - 9 high, with 5-7 leaflets soft downy underneath, slen- 

 der raceme-like panicle 1 long, and capillary stamens very much longer than 

 the narrow white petals ; flowering N. as late as midsummer ; fruit smooth ; 

 seeds small, almost eatable. 



.33. glabra, FETID or OHIO BUCKEYE. W. of the Alleghanies ; tall 

 tree, with 5 nearly smooth leaflets, a short panicle, stamens moderately longer 

 than the somewhat uniform pale yellow petals, and fruit prickly roughened like 

 that of Horse-Chestnut. 



-33. flava, YELLOW or SWEET BUCKEYE. W. & S. ; tree or shrub, with 

 5-7 smooth or smoothish leaflets, a short dense panicle, oblong calyx, and 



