90 SOAPBERRY FAJIILY. 



1. STAPHTLEA, BLADDER-NUT. (Name from a Greek word for a 



bunch of grapes, little applicable. ) 



S. trif61ia, Amiskican B. Shrub 8° -10° high, with greenish striped, 

 branches, 3 ovate pointed serrate leaflets, deciduous stipules, and hanging 

 raceme-like clusters of white flowers at the end of the branohlets of the season, 

 in spring, followed by the large bladdery pods. Low ground, common N. & W. 



S. plnn^ta, Eukopean B., occasionally planted, is very similar, but has 

 five leaflets. 



2. CARDIOSPEKMUM, BALLOON- VINE, HEAET-SEED. (The 

 latter is a translation of the Greek name.) 



C. Halieacataum, the common species, wild in the S. W. States, is cult. 

 in gardens, for the curious inflated pods ; it is a delicate herb, climbing over 

 low plants or spreading on the' ground, with small white flowers, in summer. 



3. KCELREUT5IIIIA. (Named for Kcdreuter, a German botanist.) • 

 K. panicul&,ta, a small tree from China, planted in ornamental grounds ; 



has pinnate leaves of numerous thin and coarsely toothed or cut leaflets, and a 

 terminal ample branched panicle of small yellow flowers, in summer, followed 

 by the bladdery pods. 



4. SAPINDTJS, SOAPBERRY. {Sapo Indus, i. o. Indian soap, the ben-ies 

 used as a substitute for soap. ) 



S. margin&tus, wild S. & W". : a small tree, with 8-20 broadly lanceolate 

 falcate leaflets on a wingless but often margined common stalk, and small white 

 flowers in panicles, in summer, the whitish berries as large as bullets, 



,5. .^SCtTLUS, , HORSE-CHESTNUT, BUCKEYE. (Ancient name 

 of an Oak or other mast-bearing tree, applied to these trees on account of 

 their large chestnut-like seeds. These, although loaded with farinaceous 

 nourishment, are usually rendered uneatable, and even poisonous, by a bitter 

 narcotic principle. ) Flowers in a terminal crowded panicle, in late spring or 

 early summer. 



§ 1. Tkue HoESE-CiiESTif0TS : natives of Asia, with broad and spreading 

 petals on short claws, av^ fruit more or less beset with prickly points. 



J&. Hippoe^stanum, XJommon H. Tall flne tree, with 7 leaflets, and 

 large flowers of 5 petals, white, and spotted with some purple and yellowisli ; 

 stamens 7, declined : of late there is a double-flowered variety. 



iE. rutaiciinda, Red H. Less tall, flowering even as a shrub, with 

 brighter green leaves of 5 - 7 leaflets, flowers with 4 rose-red petals not so 

 spreading, and mostly 8 stamens less declined. Probably a hybrid between 

 Horse-Chestnut and some red Buckeye, 



§ 2. Californlan, with 4 broad spreading petals on rather slender ctaioa. 

 Sj. Californica, CALiFoawiAN H. Low tree, of 5 slender-stalked leaf- 

 lets, and a long very compact raceme-like panicle of small white or rosy-tinged 

 flowers ; stamens 5 — 7, slender ; fruit large, with some rough points, 



§ 3. Buckeyes : of Atlantic U. S., with 4 erect and smaller petals on slender claws. 



.ffl. parvifldra. Small Buckeye. Wild in the upper country S., and 

 planted N. ; shrub 3° - 9° high, with 5-7 leaflets soft downy underneath, slen- 

 der raceme-like panicle 1° long, and capillary stamens very much longer than 

 the narrow white petals ; flowering N. as late as midsummer ; fruit smooth ; 

 seeds small, almost eatable. 



Si. glabra, Eetid or Ohio Buckeye. W. of the Alleghanies ; tall 

 tree, with 5 nearly smooth leaflets, a short panicle,, stamens moderately longer 

 than the somewhat uniform pale yellow petals, and fruit prickly roughened like 

 that of Horse-Chestnut. 



Si, fl&,va, Yellow or Sweet Buciceye. W. & S. ; tree or shrnb, ^vith 

 5-7 smooth or smoothish leaflets, n short dense panicle, oblong. calvx, and 



