VINE FAMILY 155 



2 or 3 together in the axils, greenish, about J in. in diameter, usually 

 dioecious, appearing at the same time as the leaves. Calyx 4-lobed. 

 Petals 4. Stamens 4. Fruit black, about J in. in diameter. Hills 

 and river banks. 



2. R. caroliniana Walt. Carolina Buckthorn. A small tree 

 with black bark and very hard wood ; twigs finely downy. Leaves 

 alternate, prominently veined, elliptical to broadly oval, entire or 

 obscurely serrate, smooth or sometimes downy below ; petioles slen- 

 der, downy. Flowers in axillary, peduncled umbels; petals minute. 

 Fruit globose, ^-^ in. in diameter, 3-seeded. Seeds smooth. On river 

 banks.* 



III. CEANOTHUS L. 



Shrubs. Leaves alternate, petioled. Elowers bisexual, in 

 terminal panicles or corymbs formed of little umbel-like clus- 

 ters. Calyx tube top-shaped or hemispherical, with a 5-lobed 

 border. Petals 6, with hoods, on slender claws. Stamens 6 ; 

 filaments long and thread-like. Fruit dry, 3-lobed, splitting 

 when ripe into 3 carpels. 



1. C. americanus L. New Jersey Tea, Red Root. Shrub, with 

 many branching stems, 1-3 ft. high, from a deep red root. Leaves 

 1-3 in. long, ovate or nearly so, acute or taper-pointed at the tip, 

 obtuse or somewhat heart-shaped at the base, downy beneath, serrate, 

 3-nerved. Flowers small, white. 



2. C. ovatus Desf . Smaller Red Root. Similar to C. americanus 

 but usually smaller and nearly smooth. Leaves narrowly oval or 

 elliptical-lanceolate, finely glandular-serrate, 1-2 in. long. Dry rocks 

 and prairies, especially S.W. 



63. VITACEjE. Vine Family 



Shrubs, with the stem swollen at the insertion of the peti- 

 oles and climbing by tendrils borne opposite the leaves. 

 Leaves alternate, with stipules simple or compound. Flowers 

 small, greenish,- generally in clusters, borne in similar posi- 

 tions to the tendrils, hypogynous or nearly so. Sepals, petals, 

 and stamens 4-5. Carpels 2, each 2-oVuled. Calyx very small. 

 Corolla deciduous, the petals often hooded. Stamens opposite 

 the petals. A disk inside the calyx bears nectar and its lobes 

 alternate with the stamens. Fruit a berry. 



