126 PLATANACEAE. 



2. C. sempervirens Dudley. Bush Chinquapin. Spreading shrub 1 to 

 8 ft. high with smooth brown bark; leaves oblong, acutish at base, acute or 

 obtuse ;il apex, or sometimes tapering upwards from near the base and there- 

 fore lanceolate- oblong, iy> to .3 in. long and 5 to 11 lines wide. 



Arid mountain slopes or rocky ridges: Sierra Nevada (3,000 to 8,000 feet); 

 Coasl Ranges (1,500 to 4,000 feet). 



PLATANACEAE. Plane Family. 



Large deciduous trees with alternate ample palmately lobed leaves and 

 sheathing stipules; dilated base of petiole enclosing the bud of the next season; 

 bark falling away in thin plates. Flowers monoecious, the stamina te and the 

 pistillate on separate axes, closely packed in separate ball-like clusters dis- 

 tributed at intervals along a terminal very slender axis, the inflorescence thus 

 appearing moniliform. Eeceptaeles very hairy and individual flowers diffi- 

 cult to segregate. Calyx and corolla none. Stamens with long anthers and 

 very short filaments densely crowded on a globose fleshy receptacle. Pistils 

 with interspersed clavate truncate bracts, crowded on a similar receptacle ; 

 ovary 1-ovuled; style one, filiform, laterally stigmatic. Fruit a coriaceous 

 nutlet with tawny hairs about the base. 



1. PLAT ANUS L. Plane Tree. 

 The only genus. (Greek platus, broad, referring to the ample leaves.) 

 1. P. racemosa Nutt. Western Sycamore. Tree 40 to 90 ft. high with 

 a massive crown of wide-spreading limbs; leaves Sy 2 to 9 (or 13) in. long, 

 commonly broader than long, parted into 3 to 5 broad, spreading fingers or 

 lobes ; margin entire or with few small teeth ; stipules very conspicuous when 

 full grown, roundish or angular in outline and encircling or sheathing the stem ; 

 ball-like flower clusters, 2 to 7 in number, distributed at intervals along a 

 pendulous and very slender axis borne at or near the end of a branch; balls 

 falling to pieces in the winter, releasing the seed-like nutlets. 



Common and sometimes abundant in river-bottoms, Sacramento Valley south- 

 ward through the San Joaquin and South Coast Ranges to Southern California. 

 Individual trees frequently attain great size. The trunks are often remark- 

 able for their great divergence from the perpendicular, due to the shifting 

 character of the soil in stream beds. 



URTICACEAE. Nettle Family. 



Herbs with simple leaves. Flowers small (ours less than 1 line long), green- 

 ish, unisexual, clustered, the clusters disposed in catkin-like axillary spikes or 

 loose axillary heads. Petals none. Staminate calyx with 4 distinct or nearly dis- 

 tinct sepals and as many opposite stamens, the filaments coiled or bent inward 

 in the bud so that when released, they fly upwards like a spring, scattering the 

 pollen. Pistillate calyx i' to 4-toothed or -cleft, or of oearly distinct segments. 

 Ovary superior, L -celled, with I orthotropous erect ovule; style and stigma I. 

 Embryo straight. Endosperm oily. Fruit an achene, always enclosed or 

 covered by t he calyx. 



Pistillate calyx 4-parted, the segments almosl distinct, the inner ones largest. ... 1. Urtica. 

 Pistillate calyx saccate, J to 4-toothed al orifice 2. Hesperocnidk. 



1. URTICA L. Nettle. 



Annual or perennial herbs with stinging hairs. Leaves opposite, petroled. 



