CAPER FAMILY. Capparidaceae. 



lower leaves large and jagged, cut into leaflets, the upper 

 leaves mostly toothless. The fragrant flowers form long 

 clusters, each flower about three-quarters of an inch across; 

 the small, cylindrical pods stand erect, close to the branch- 

 ing stem. A valuable, antiseptic oil is made from the 

 black, pungent seeds, exported from California by the ton. 



CAPER FAMILY. Capparidaceae. 



The flowers of this family are much like the Mustards, 

 but the stamens are all of equal length and are often more 

 than six; the leaves are alternate and consist of three or 

 several leaflets, with stalks, and the plant usually tastes 

 bitter and disagreeable instead of pungent. There is no 

 partition in the pods, which are on long, threadlike stalks; 

 the ovary is superior and the seeds are kidney-shaped. 

 Many flowers have only a rudimentary pistil and never 

 produce fruit. The Caper, of which we eat the pickled 

 flower-buds for a relish, is a shrub which grows in the 

 Levant. The family is quite large and flourishes in warm 

 regions. 



There are several kinds of Cleomella, resembling Cle- 

 ome, except that the pods are different. 



This is a handsome, rather odd-looking 

 ipes P lant > with a stout > smooth, yellowish 

 Yellow or purplish stem, sometimes branching 



Spring anc l ove r a foot tall. The leaves are 



Nev., Cal., Oreg. fought light-green, smooth, toothless and 

 slightly thickish, and the three leaflets are sometimes eachH 

 tipped with a hair, and have a tuft of small hairs at the 

 base of the leaf-stalk, in place of a stipule. The flowers 

 are about half an inch across, and are a beautiful warm 

 shade of golden-yellow, the long stamens being of the same 

 color and giving a very pretty feathery appearance to the 

 large cluster. The pods are queer-looking little things and 

 stick straight out from the stem. This has a slightly un- 

 pleasant smell, but looks very gay and pretty in the fiek 

 and along the edges of the mesas around Reno. 



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