MENISPERMACEjE. (MOONSEED FAMILY.) 15 



distinct or cohering in a mass, baccate in fruit. Seed anatropous, large. 

 Embryo minute, at the base of ruminated albumen. 



1. ASIMINA, Aclans. TAPAW. CUSTARD- APPLE. 



Petals thick ; the three outer ones larger and spreading. Stamens very nu- 

 merous, crowded on the globular receptacle. Ovaries 3- 15, sessile, 1 -celled, 

 few-many-ovuled, baccate in fruit. Seeds horizontal, enclosed in a thin succu- 

 lent aril. Shrubs or small trees. Leaves deciduous. Flowers nodding. 



* Flowers appearing with or before the leaves. 



1. A. triloba, Dunal. Leaves oblong-obovate, acuminate, covered with 

 a rusty pubescence, as also the branches when young, at length glabrous ; outer 

 petals round-ovate, dark purple, 3-4 tunes as long as the hairy sepals. (Uvaria 

 triloba, Tarr.fr Gray.) Banks of rivers, Florida and northward. March and 

 April. A shrub or small tree. Leaves 8' -12' long. Flowers !'-!' wide. 

 Fruit oblong, yellow and pulpy when mature, edible. 



2. A. parviflora, Dunal. Leaves oblong-obovate, abruptly pointed, and 

 like the branches rusty-pubescent, at length smooth ; outer petals oblong-ovate, 

 twice as long as the calyx. (Uvaria parviflora, Tarr. fr Gray. ) Dry sandy soil, 

 Florida to North Carolina and westward. March and April. Shrub 2 - 5 

 high. Leaves 4' - 6' long, thicker than those of the preceding. Flowers $ wide, 

 rusty-pubescent, greenish-purple. Fruit oblong or pear-shaped, fleshy, few- 



3. A. grandiflora, Dunal. Leaves oblong or oblong-obovate, obtuse, rigid, 

 densely pubescent like the branches when young, becoming smoothish above ; 

 outer petals large, round-obovate, many times longer than the sepals ; fruit small, 

 obovate, 1 - few-seeded. (A. cuneata, Shuttl.) Sandy pine barrens, Georgia 

 and East Florida. March and April. A small shrub. Leaves 2' -3' long. 

 Outer petals two inches or more in length, yellowish-white. 



* * Flowers from the axils of present leaves. 



4. A. pygmsea, Dunal. Smooth or nearly so throughout ; leaves coria- 

 ceous, oblanceolate or oblong-wedge-shaped, obtuse ; outer petals oblong-obo- 

 vate, many times longer than the sepals, pale-yellow, the inner ones purple 

 within ; fruit cylindrical, pulpy, few-seeded. (A. secundiflora and probably A. 

 reticulata, Shuttl , the latter a pubescent form, with smaller (!' - 2') oblong leaves 

 and smaller flowers.) Dry pine barrens, Florida and the lower districts of 

 Georgia. May - July. Shrub ^ - 3 high. Leaves 2' - 6' long, rarely 1 ' wide. 

 Flowers |'-3' wide. 



ORDER 4. MENISPERMACE^E. (MOONSEED FAMILY.) 



Climbing shrubby vines, with alternate palmately veined and often 

 lobed leaves, on slender petioles, and small polygamous or dioecious flow- 

 ers, in axillary racemes or panicles. Stipules none. Sepals and petals 

 mostly alike, in two or more rows, imbricated in the bud. Stamens 6 or 



