128 CLASS V. ORDER III. 



nate, and grow on long semicylindrical petioles. Leafets ovate 

 or rhomboidal, acute, smooth and shining on both sides, the 

 veins sometimes a little hairy beneath. The margin is some- 

 times entire and sometimes variously toothed and lobed, in the 

 same plant. The flowers are small and greenish white. They 

 grow in panicles or compound racemes on the sides of the new 

 shoots, and are chiefly axillary. The barren flowers have a calyx 

 of five erect, acute segments, and a corolla of five oblong recurv- 

 ed petals. Stamens erect with oblong anthers. In the centre 

 is a rudiment of a style. The fertile flowers, situated on a dif- 

 ferent plant, are about half the size of the preceding. The calyx 

 and corolla are similar, but more erect. They have five small, 

 abortive stamens and a roundish germ, surmounted with a short, 

 erect style, ending in three stigmas. The berries are roundish, 

 and of a pale green color, approaching to white. 



This species, like the last, is poisonous to many persons. The 

 juice stains linen a black color. Common about the borders 

 of fields, &c. — June. 



139. STAPHYLEA. 

 Staphylea trifolia. L. Bladder tree. 



Leaves trifoliate, racemes pendulous ; petals ciliate 

 below; fruit ovate. 



A handsome shrub from six to ten feet high, remarkable for its 

 large inflated capsules. Leaves ternate, somewhat hairy ; leaf- 

 ets oval, serrate, acuminate, paler underneath. Flowers in a 

 short, nodding panicle or raceme. Bractes minute, lanceolate, 

 scarious. Calyx five parted, erect, tinged with red, its segments 

 oblong, obtuse; its base contracted into a stalk which forms a 

 joint with the peduncle. Petals Avhite, obovate, obtuse, concave. 

 Stamens erect, with downy filaments. Germ oval, triangular. 

 Styles three, cohering into one. Capsule large, inflated, ovate, 

 triangular, three parted at top, supporting the three styles, three 

 celled; seeds obovate, fixed to the central receptacle. — In woods 

 at "Weston ; also in the western parts of the state. — May, June. 



140. SAROTHRA. 

 Sarothra Gentianoides. L. Pine weed. 



Syn. Hypericum Sarothra. Mich. 



