Descriptive Flora 



129 



the axils of the leaves. Corolla 4-lobed. Stamens 4. Fruits 

 stony, orange to scarlet, size of a pea. In river bottoms, usually 

 following water courses. This is not the true American holly, 

 Ilex opaca. 



AESCULACEAE. Buckeye Family. 



Aesculm octandra Marsh. Yellow Buckeye. Sweet Buckeye. 

 (Aesculus flava Ait.) 



This shrub or small tree has palmately compound leaves 

 and great spires of yellow bloom resembling the horse chestnut 

 blossom of the east. Leaflets 5 to 8, 2 to 3 inches long, saw- 

 toothed. Calyx tubular, yellow, with 5 unequal, blunt lobes 

 covered with minute glands. Petals 2 long, 2 short, similarly 

 covered with minute glands, the longer two yellow or orange, 

 within. Stamens unequal, 5 to 8, some longer than the petals. 

 Pods smooth, leathery, 3-lobed, containing 3 large, smooth, highly 

 polished seeds each marked with a round grey scar. March and 

 April. In shaded ravines and in thick patches in shaded river 

 bottoms. 



Aesculus pavia L. Red Buckeye. 



Similar to Aesculus octandm but having red or purplish-red 

 flowers. 



SAPINDACEAE. Soapberry Family. 

 Cardiospernmm halicambum L. Balloon Vine. " JaboncilloV 



Tendril-bearing vine conspicuous in fall for its 3-angled, 

 inflated pods. Leaves compound, deep green, with 3 divisions, 

 each division bearing 3 coarsely toothed, incised or parted leaf- 

 lets. Flowers inconspicuous, white, about one-eighth inch across, 

 usually in a 3-forked cluster, bearing two tendrils just below the 

 fork. Pods inflated, 1 to 11/4" across, turning purplish as the 2 

 to 3 shiny, green, fleshy seeds the size of small peas mature and 

 become hard and black, each seed marked at the base with a 



