296 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTiCETUM. 



PART III. 



CHAP. VII. 



OF THE HARDY AND HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER 

 MEN^SPERMA^CEiE. 



Distinctive Characteristics. Thalamiflorous (H.B.). Sexes, in most, dioecious; 

 in the rest, monoecious or polygamous. Sepals and petals similar ; the latter 

 not present in some. Stamens monadelphous, or rarely free; equal in number 

 with the petals, and opposite to them, rarely double that number, or fewer. 

 Ovaries, in some, numerous, each one-styled, all somewhat connected at the 

 base; or, in others, only one, crowned with many styles, and many-celled, and, 

 therefore, consisting of many carpels grown together, very rarely, one-celled, 

 and this, most likely, by abortion. Fruit, in most, baccate or drupaceous, one- 

 seeded or many-seeded, oblique or lunulate, compressed, with the seeds of the 

 same form. Embryo curved or peripheric. Albumen none, or very sparing 

 and fleshy. (Don's Mil/., i. p. 102., with adaptation.) — CHmbing or twining 

 shrubs, mostly natives within the tropics, with alternate, stalked, usually cor- 

 date or peltate, simple, rarely compound leaves, always with the middle nerve 

 terminating in an awn or point ; destitute of stipules. Flowers small ; in most 

 species, in axillary racemes. (Don's Mi/L, i. p. 102.) The species in British 

 gardens are included in the genera Menispermum and Cdcculus, and are natives 

 of North America and Dahuria. They are all of the easiest culture, and are 

 propagated by dividing the root, or by cuttings. 



Genus I. 



MENISPE'RMUM L. The Moonseed. Lin. Sj/st. Dioe'cia Dode- 



candria. 



Identificaticm. Tourn. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 102. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 112. 

 Synonymes. M^nisperrae, Fr. ; Mondsaame, Ger. 



BerivaUon. From 'incne, the moon, and sperma, a seed ; from the seeds being crescent-shaped. 



Gen. Char. Sepals and jjetals disposed in a quaternary order, in two or three 

 series. Male Jloivers v/'ith 16 to 20 stamens ; female flowers -vihth. 2 to 4 

 ovaries. Drujie baccate, roundish-kidney-shaped, 1-seeded. — Climbing shrubs, 

 with alternate, peltate or cordate, smooth leaves. Peduncles axillary or 

 supra-axillary. Male and female peduncles rather dissimilai'. Flowers small, 

 greenish-white. (Don's Mil/.,i. p. 112.) 



1. M. canade'nse. The Canadian Moonseed. 



Idetitificatioii. Lin. Sp. ; Dec Prod., 1. p. 102. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 112. 



Synonymes. M. canadense var. « Lamarck ; M. angul'Situm Moench ; Menisperme du Canada, Bon . 



Jard. ; Canadischer Mondsaame, Ger. 

 Engravings. Schkuhr. H., 3. t. 337. ; Lam. Diet., t. 824. ; and out Jig. 42. 



Sjpec. Char. Leaves peltate, smoothish, somewhat 42 

 cordate, roundish-angular; angles bluntish, ter- 

 minal one abruptly awned, mucronate. Racemes 

 solitary, compound. Petals 8. (Don's Mill., i. 

 p. 112.) A twining shrub, with thick woody roots, 

 and numerous very slender shoots, which rise to 

 the height of 12 ft. or 14 ft., but which, though 

 ligneous, never attain any considerable diameter, 

 and are not of many years' duration. The stem 

 twines in a direction contrary to the sun's apparent 

 motion, and is smooth and even, having more the 

 appearance of a herbaceous plant, than of a shrub. The flowers are small, 

 and the berries black. 



