BALSAM FAMILY 158 
AESCULUS L. 
Characteristics of the genus as above given for the family. 
1. A. Hippocastanum L. Horsr-Cuestnut. A round-topped tree 
with frequently forking branches.and stumpy twigs. Leaves very 
large, with 7 straight-veined leaflets. Flowers large and showy. 
Corolla open and spreading, of 5 white petals, spotted with purple 
and yellow. Stamens with long, curved filaments. Fruit large, cov- 
ered with stout, soft prickles when young. Cultivated from Asia. 
2. #. glabra Willd. Onto Buckeye. A large tree, not unlike 
a horse-chestnut. Leaflets generally 5. Flowers small. Corolla of 4 
upright, pale yellow petals. Stamens curved, about twice as long as 
the petals. Fruit prickly at first. River banks. : 
3. A. octandra Marsh. Swrert Buckrye. Varying in size from a 
low shrub to a tall tree. Leaves with 5-7 leaflets. Flowers in a short, 
dense panicle. Petals 4, in 2 unlike pairs, bending inward; blades of 
the longer pair very small. Fruit not prickly. Woods W. and S. 
4. HE. Pavia L. Rep Buckeye. Shrubs. Stems erect, branched, 
4-8 ft. high. Leaflets usually 5, lanceolate to narrowly oval, taper- 
pointed at both ends, finely serrate, smooth or nearly so. Flowers 
in dense, erect panicles, bright red. Stamens rather longer than the 
petals. Fruit nearly smooth. Common in open woods.* 
61. BALSAMINACEZ. Batsam Famity 
Tender, fleshy-stemmed, annual herbs. Leaves simple, with- 
out stipules. Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic. Sepals usually 
_8, the largest one with a spur. Petals 3. Stamens 5, dis- 
- tinet or nearly so. Ovary 5-celled, bursting when ripe into 
5 valves. 
IMPATIENS L. 
Characteristics of the genus those above given for the family. 
Fruit a capsule (very fleshy in our species), which when ripe 
bursts open with considerable force, throwing the seeds about. 
1. I. pallida Nutt. Witp Batsam, Lapy’s Stipper. Stem 3-5 ft. 
high, branching. Leaves oblong-ovate, 2-6 in. long, the lower often 
long-petioled, the upper nearly sessile. Peduncles axillary, 1-3 in. 
long, slender, 2-5-flowered. Flowers pale yellow, slightly dotted 
with brownish-red. Sac of the large sepal broader than it is long, 
ending in a recurved spur about } in. long. Damp, shaded ground, 
not very common. 
