ORDER X2XVI. ACERACE^. — ORDER XT.TTT. LEGUMINOSJi. 



Ill 



tary. Styles 3 — 5, distinct, or united. Fruit a drupe; or less 

 commonly a bony, 1-seeded nut. 



A chiefly tropical order of plants, distinguished by their resinous, often poi- 

 sonous, juice, wliich frequently furnishes material for varnishes. The fruit, 

 however, is generally harmless, or even edible and delicious, as the Mango and 

 Oashew-nut The Khus {Sumach), Is the only native of the North. 



Order XXXVI. — Aceraceee. 



Trees, or shrubs. Leaves opposite, without stipules, simple, 

 and palmately lobed, or pinnate. Flowers often polygamous. 

 Sepals 5, rarely 4 — 9, colored, more or less united. Petals as 

 many as the sepals, or none. Stamens hypogynous, 3 — 12, 

 usually 8, distinct. Ovary of 2 partly united carpels, forming a 

 double samara in fruit. Ovules 2 in each cell. Seeds 1 in a cell. 



An order containing many noble and useful trees, natives of the Northern 

 Temperate Zone. Several species of the Acer (Ma/ple\ fig. 5, yield sugar ; but 

 none so abundantly as the liock-Maple {Acer JSacc/iaHnum). 



rig.6. 



Order XXXVII. — ^Hippocastanacese. 



Trees, or shrubs. Leaves opposite, destitute of stipules. 

 Flowers showy, with articulated pedicels. Calyx campanulate, 

 consisting of 5 united sepals. Petals 5, unequal, 1 sometimes 

 wanting. Stamens 6 — 8, commonly 1, distinct, unequal, inserted 

 on the disk together with the petals. Ovary consisting of 3 

 united carpels, 3-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell. Style_ 1, 

 filiform. Fruit subglobose, coriaceous, with 1 — 3 large roundish 

 seeds. Cotyledons thick and fleshy. 



A small order of ornamental trees, with astringent bark, represented among 

 us by the species of Horse-Chestnut {jEsculus), one of which has been intro- 

 duced ft-om Asia. Another is the true Buck-eye, and native of the West, es- 

 pecially Ohio. 



Order XXXVIII. — Oelastraceae. 



Shrubs, or trees. Leaves alternate, or opposite, simple. Se- 

 pals 4 5. Petals 4 — 5, inserted on the flat disk surrounding the 



ovary. Stamens as many as the petals, alternate with them, in- 

 serted on the margin of the disk. Ovary free from the calyx. 

 Fruit a capsule, or berry, with 1 — 5, 1 few-seeded cells. Seeds 

 usually arilled. 



A small unimportant order, of which Ceiastrus {False Mtter-sweet), and 

 Euonymus {Bui-ning-bus?),), are examples. 



Order XXXIX. — KhamnaceEe. 



Shrubs, or trees, often with spinose branches. Leaves simple, 

 alternate, rarely opposite. Flowers small. Sepals 4 — 5, united 

 at base, valvate in prefloration. Petals 4 — S, inserted in the 

 throat of the calyx, cucuUate, or convolute, sometimes wanting. 

 Stamens 4 — 5, inserted opposite the petals. Ovary of 2 — 4 

 united carpels, 2 — 4-celled, usually more or less free from the 

 calyx, sometimes immersed in the fleshy disk surrounding it. 

 Fruit a berry, or a capsule with dry and separable carpels. 

 Seeds without an aril. 



An order of shrubby plants, distinguished by the bitter and astringent quali- 

 ties of the bark, lihanmus {Buck'thorn), and Ceanothns {JerHey-tea\ are ex- 

 amples. The berries of Buck-thorn are cathartic, and are used in medicine. 

 They also yield the paint called Sap green. The genuine Jujube-paste is 

 derived from several species of Zizyphus, a genus of this order. 



Order.XL— ^Stapliyleacea3. 



Shrubs. Leaves opposite, compound. Flowers regular. Se- 

 pals 6, colored, persistent. Petals 5, alternate with the sepals. 

 Stamens 5, inserted in the disk surrounding the ovary. Styles 3, 

 nearly, or quite distinct. Ovary of 3 carpels, becoming in fruit 

 an inflated, 3-seeded, 3-celled capsule, 3-parted at apex. Seeds 

 bony and nut-like, several in a cell. 



A small order nearly allied to the last, of which Staphylea {Bladder-mO), 

 is tlio principal genus. 



Order XLI. — Vitaceee. 



Woody plants, climbing by tendrils. Leaves simple, or com- 

 pound, often alternate. Flowers small, often polygamous, or dio3- 

 cious. Calyx very small, entire, or with 4 or 5 teeth, lined by a 

 disk. Petals 4 or 5, inserted on the margin of the disk, often co- 

 hering by their tips, and caducous. Stamens 4 or S, opposite the 

 petal^, and inserted with them. Ovary 2-celled. Style short, or 

 none. Fruit a globose, usually pulpy berry, often 1-celled, and 1 

 or few-seeded by abortion. 



Vitjs, the Grape-vine, is the most important plant of the order. 



GROUP VIII. 

 Order XLII. — Polygalaceae. 



Herbs, or somewhat shrubby plants. Leaves usually alter- 

 nate, sometimes verticillate, simple. Flowers perfect, irregular. 

 Sepals 5, distinct, usually persistent, veiy irregular ; 3 exterior 

 and smaller ; the 2 lateral, interior ones larger, and petaloid. 

 Petals irregular, usually 3, the anterior one {the keel), larger than 

 the others, and usually crested, or 3-lobed. Stamens 6 — 8, hy- 

 pogynous. Filaments united into a tube, which is split on the 

 upper side, and more or less coherent to the claws of the petals. 

 Ovary compound, free from the calyx, consisting of 2 united car- 

 pels, sometimes 1-eelled by the suppression of the upper cell. 

 Style curved, often cucul'late. Fruit opening in a loculicidal 

 manner ; or indehisoent. 



The genus Polygala, one species of which is the well-known Seneca Snake- 

 root, contains our only representatives of this family, which is generally distin- 

 guished by active properties, and by a bitter principle, that pervades the whole 

 order. 



Order XLIII. — ^Leguminosae. 



JHerbs, shrubs, or trees. Leav€s alternate, often compound. 

 Stipules present, sometimes deciduous. Calyx consisting usually ' 

 of 5, more or less united sepals. Petals 5, either papilionaceous, 

 or regular. Stamens perigynous, sometimes hypogynous, diadel- 

 phous, monadelphous, or distinct. Ovary single, and simple. 

 Fruit a legume, assuming various forms, sometimes divided into 

 several 1-seeded joints, as in fig. 12, Plate XXVIL, when it is called 

 a loment; while the proper legume is seen in the Pea. Seeds 

 solitary, or several, destitute of albumen. The order is divided 

 into 3 sub -orders, Papilionaoeie, CsesalpineEe, and Jlimosse. 

 Papilionaceaa has papilionaceous flowers, 10 stamens, diadel- 

 phous, sometimes monadelphous, rarely distinct, inserted on the 

 bottom of the calyx. The Pea, Bean, and Locust-tree are fami- 

 liar examples. The peouhar structure of this sub-order, which 



