142 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY 



pinnately 3-5-f oliate ; leaflets ovate, lobed, toothed or entire, downy 

 when young. Flowers dioecious, appearing from lateral buds before 

 or with the leaves ; the staminate on long and drooping pedicels, 

 the pistillate in drooping racemes. Keys smooth, 1-lJ in. long. 

 River banks. Often cultivated as a quick-growing shade-tree.* 



59. HIPPOCASTANACE.a;. Buckeye Family. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite, long-petioled, palmately 

 compound. Flowers showy, somewhat moncecious, in termi- 

 nal panicles. Calyx 5-lobed, oblique. Petals 4-5, unequal. 

 Stamens 5-8, hypogynous. Pistil 1 ; ovary 3-celled, 2 ovules 

 in each cell ; style slender. Pruit a 1-3-celled, leathery 

 capsule, 1-3-seeded. Seeds with a large scar.* 



aiSCULUS, L. 



Characteristics of the genus as above given foi*the family. 



1. M. Hippocastanum, L. Horse-chestnut. A round-topped 

 tree with frequently forking branches and stumpy twigs. Leaves 

 very large, with 7 straigh1>-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. M. glabra, Willd. Ohio 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. M. flaya, Ait. Sweet Buckeye. Varying in size from a 

 low shrub to a tall tree. Leaves with 5-7 leaflets. Flowers i« 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. M. Pavia, L. Red 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.* 



