172 BOTANY. 
at the base, colored, imbricated in estivation. Petals five, alternate with an 
imbricated sestivation. Stamens five, alternate with the petals. Disk large 
and urceolate. Ovary two- to three-celled, superior; ovules. usually 
ascending ; styles two to three, cohering at the base. Fruit membranous 
or fleshy, indehiscent, or opening internally, often partly abortive. Seeds 
anatropal, roundish, truncated at the hilum, with a bony testa; albumen 
generally 0; embryo straight, with thick cotyledons and a small inferior 
radicle. Shrubs, with opposite, pinnate leaves, having stipules and stipels. 
The plants are irregularly scattered over the globe, and are found in 
Europe, America, and Asia. Some of them appear to be subacrid, while 
others are bitter and astringent. The species of Staphylea receive the 
name of Bladder-nut, on account of their inflated bladder-like pericarp. 
They are cultivated as handsome shrubs. Three known genera are 
enumerated, and fourteen species. Example: *Staphylea. Staphylea 
trifolia, or Bladder-nut, represents this order in America. | 
Orver 160. CreLastracex, the Spindle-tree Family. Sepals four to five, 
imbricated in zestivation. Petals four to five, with a broad base, and an 
imbricated estivation, rarely wanting. Stamens alternate with the petals ; 
anthers erect. Disk large, flat, and expanded, surrounding the ovary, to 
which it adheres. Ovary superior, two- to five-celled ; ovules ascending, 
one or numerous, attached to the axis by a short funiculus. Fruit either a 
two- to five-celled capsule, with loculicidal dehiscence, or drupaceous. 
Seeds one or many in each cell, anatropal, usually ascending, and sometimes 
arillate; albumen fleshy; embryo straight, with flat cotyledons and a short 
radicle. Small trees or shrubs, with simple, alternate, rarely opposite leaves, 
and small deciduous stipules. They inhabit the warm parts of Europe, 
North America, and Asia, and many are found at the Cape of Good Hope. 
The order contains twenty-four known genera, and 260 species. It has 
been divided into two tribes: 1. Euonymez, with capsular fruit. 2. 
Eleodendrese, with drupaceous fruit. Examples: *Celastrus, *Euonymus, 
*Oreophila, Eleeodendron. Some authors include the last order with 
Celastracese, as a sub-order. In North America there are three genera 
(Euonymus, Celastrus, and Oreophila), with five species. Euonymus 
americanus is called burning bush, from the bright scarlet arillodes- and 
crimson capsules. 
Euonymus europzeus, Spindle tree (Europe) (pl. 71, fig. 5); a, flowering 
branch; 4, flower; ¢, fruit; d, seed; ¢, vertical section of do. 
Orver 161. Srackuorstacu.2, the Stackhousia Family. Calyx five-cleft, 
equal, with an inflated tube. Petals five, equal, inserted at the top of the 
tube of the calyx, claws of the petals united, limb narrow and stellate. 
Stamens five, unequal, attached to the tubes of the calyx. Ovary superior, 
three- to five-celled, cells partially distinct; ovules solitary, erect; styles 
three to five, sometimes united at the base; stigmas simple. Fruit consisting 
of three to five indehiscent pieces, which are sometimes winged, and are 
attached to a central persistent column. Seeds anatropal; embryo long, 
erect, in the axis of fleshy albumen. Shrubs with simple, entire, alternate, 
172 
