596 



Empetraceae; Coriariaceae; Anacardiaceae 



1. EMPETRUM L. 



Gank6-ran Zoku 



Small dioecious or monoecious evergreen shrubs with long procumbent stems and branches with globose winter-buds; leaves 

 small, Unear-oblong or linear, obtuse, thick, revolute on margins, densely covering the branchlets; flowers axillary, with scaly 

 bracts at base; sepals 3, small, rather petaloid; stamens 3, with slender filaments; styles very short; stigma 6- to 9-toothed; fruit a 



berrylike drupe, with 6-9 stones. Arctic, northern, and alpine regions of the N. Hemisphere and in the alpine regions of S. 



America; about 5 species. 



1. Empetrum nigrum L. var. japonicum K. Koch. E. 

 nigrum sensu auct. Japon., non L.; E. nigrum var. asiaticum 



Nakai; E. \urilense Vass.; E. albidum Vass. Ganko-ran. 



Procumbent shrub about 10-20 cm. high, very densely 

 branched, densely white-puberulent while young; leaves thick, 

 coriaceous, lustrous, broadly linear, 5-6 mm. long, 0.7-0.8 mm. 

 wide, obtuse to subrounded, spreading, slightly deflexed when 

 old, the margins revolute and covering the under surface, both 

 ridges slightly scabrous; flowers axillary, small, sessile, bisex- 



ual or polygamous; filaments very slender, the anthers broadly 

 ovate; fruit globose, sweet to taste, dark purple or blackish, 

 about 6 mm. across, the stones several, semiglobose, about 1.5 

 mm. long, with a thick rounded back. June-July. Form- 

 ing broad, dense mats in alpine regions; Hokkaido, Honshu 

 (centr. distr. and northw.); common. The typical phase and 

 some other variants occur in the arctic, northern, and alpine 

 regions of the N. Hemisphere. 



Fam. 118. CORIARIACEAE Doku-utsugi Ka Coriaria Family 



Shrubs with angular branches and scaly winter-buds; leaves opposite or verticillate, exstipulate; flowers bisexual or unisexual, 

 small, greenish, solitary or in racemes, axillary; sepals 5, imbricate; petals small, keeled on inner side; stamens 10, free, or half 

 of them adnate to the keel of the petals, the anthers large, longitudinally splitting; carpels 5-10, free, each 1-locular, the styles 

 free, elongate, the ovules solitary in each locule, pendulous from the top of the locule, anatropous; fruitlets covered with the 



accrescent, juicy, persistent petals; seeds flat, the endosperm scanty, with a straight embryo in the center. A single genus, in 



the temperate regions of e. Asia, New Zealand, the Mediterranean region, and Central and South America. 



1. CORIARIA L. Doku-utsugi Zoku 



The characters of the family; 8 or 9 species. 



1. Coriaria japonica A. Gray. Doku-utsugi. Gla- 



brous, deciduous shrub; branches rather thick, elongate, the 

 branchlets 4-angled; leaves nearly sessile, opposite, in 2 rows 

 on branchlets (appearing as though the branchlets were pin- 

 nate leaves), ovate, or ovate-oblong, 6-8 cm. long, 2-3.5 cm. 

 wide, gradually acuminate, rounded at base, 3-nerved; ra- 

 cemes pistillate and staminate, arising from lateral buds of the 

 preceding year's growth, without subtending normal leaves; 

 staminate racemes 2-3 cm. long, the bracts and 1 or 2 pairs of 

 scalelike leaves obovate, membranous, 3-5 mm. long, the 



pedicels about half as long as the bracts; sepals about 3.5 mm. 

 long, membranous; stamens 8-10; pistillate racemes 8-15 cm. 

 long, including the peduncles, the scalelike leaves rounded, 

 sometimes green and somewhat leaflike, the bracts greenish, 

 recurved, the pedicels 7-10 mm. long, spreading; petals accres- 

 cent after anthesis and enclosing the fruit, 5-6 mm. long, 

 juicy, becoming dark reddish purple; fruitlets obliquely ovate, 

 rather thick, 4 mm. long, with few longitudinal striaUons on 

 the back. May. Thickets in mountains and hills; Hok- 

 kaido, Honshu (Kinki Distr. and eastw.) ; locally abundant. 



Fam. 119. ANACARDIACEAE Urushi Ka Sumac Family 



Trees or shrubs; leaves alternate or rarely opposite, usually odd-pinnate, without stipules; flowers bisexual or unisexual, ac- 

 tinomorphic; sepals variously lobed; petals 3-7 or absent, free, rarely connate; disc present; stamens usually twice as many as 

 the petals, rarely as many or numerous, the anthers 2-locular, longitudinally dehiscent; ovary superior, 1-locular, rarely 2- to 

 5-locular; styles 1-3; ovules solitary in each locule, pendulous; fruit usually a drupe; seeds without endosperm or endosperm 

 very scanty, the cotyledons fleshy. About 70 genera, with about 600 species, chiefly in the Tropics. 



lA. Styles 3; ovary 1-IocuIar, 1-ovuled; fruit 1-seeded 1. Rhus 



IB. Styles 5; ovary 5-locular, 5-ovuled; fruit 3- to 5-seeded 2. Choerospondias 



1. RHUS L. Urushi Zoku 



Deciduous or evergreen, dioecious or polygamous, trees or shrubs, sometimes scandent, with naked winter-buds; leaves alternate, 

 ternate or odd-pinnate, rarely simple; flowers small, in axillary or terminal panicles; sepals 4-6, small, connate at base, per- 

 sistent, imbricate; petals 4-6, imbricate; disc annular; stamens 4-6, at the base of the disc, free; ovary sessile; styles 3, free or 

 connate, the stigma capitate; ovules solitary; fruit a small, slightly depressed drupe, the stones coriaceous or horny; cotyledons 

 flat. About 150 species, in temperate and tropical regions. 



lA. Scandent woody plants with 3-foliolate leaves; inflorescence axillary 1. R. ambigiia 



IB. Erect trees vi^ith odd-pinnate leaves, the leaflets more than 3. 



