§ 2. PRINOÌDES. Parts of the (polygamous or diœcious) flowers in fours or fives (rarely in sixes); drupe red or purple, the nutlets striate-many-ribbed on the back; leaves deciduous; shrubs.
4. I. decídua, Walt. Leaves wedge-oblong or lance-obovate, obtusely serrate, downy on the midrib beneath, shining above, becoming thickish; peduncles of the sterile flowers longer than the petioles, of the fertile short; calyx-teeth smooth, acute.—Wet grounds, Va. to Mo., Kan., and southward. May.
5. I. montícola, Gray. Leaves ovate or lance-oblong, ample (3–5´ long), taper-pointed, thin-membranaceous, smooth, sharply serrate; fertile flowers very short-peduncled; calyx ciliate.—Damp woods, Taconic and Catskill Mountains, and Cattarangus Co., N. Y., through Penn. (east to Northampton Co.), and southward along the Alleghanies. May.
6. I. móllis, Gray. Leaves soft downy beneath, oval, ovate, or oblong, taper-pointed at both ends, especially at the apex, thin-membranaceous, sharply serrulate; sterile flowers very numerous in umbel-like clusters, the pedicels shorter than the petiole and (with the calyx) soft-downy, the fertile peduncles very short.—Burgoon's Gap, Alleghanies of Penn. (J. R. Lowrie, Porter), and along the mountains in the Southern States.—Resembles the last.
§ 3. PRÌNOS. Parts of the sterile flowers commonly in fours, fives, or sixes, those of the fertile flowers commonly in sixes (rarely in fives, sevens, or eights); nutlets smooth and even; shrubs.
[*] Leaves deciduous; flowers in sessile clusters, or the fertile solitary; fruit bright red.
7. I. verticillàta, Gray. (Black Alder. Winterberry.) Leaves oval, obovate, or wedge-lanceolate, pointed, acute at base, serrate, downy on the veins beneath; flowers all very short-peduncled.—Low grounds; common. May, June.
8. I. lævigàta, Gray. (Smooth Winterberry.) Leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, pointed at both ends, appressed-serrulate, shining above, beneath mostly glabrous; sterile flowers long-peduncled.—Wet grounds, Maine to the mountains of Va. June.—Fruit larger than in the last, ripening earlier in the autumn.
[*][*] Leaves coriaceous, evergreen and shining, often black-dotted beneath; fruit black.
9. I. glàbra, Gray. (Inkberry.) Leaves wedge-lanceolate or oblong, sparingly toothed toward the apex, smooth; peduncles (½´ long) of the sterile flowers 3–6-flowered, of the fertile 1-flowered; calyx-teeth rather blunt.—Sandy grounds, Cape Ann, Mass., to Va., and southward near the coast. June.—Shrub 2–3° high.
2. NEMOPÁNTHES, Raf. Mountain Holly.
Flowers polygamo-diœcious. Calyx in the sterile flowers of 4–5 minute deciduous teeth, in the fertile ones obsolete. Petals 4–5, oblong-linear, spreading, distinct. Stamens 4–5; filaments slender. Drupe with 4–5 bony nutlets, light red.—A much-branched shrub, with ash-gray bark, alternate and oblong deciduous leaves on slender petioles, entire or slightly toothed, smooth. Flowers on long slender axillary peduncles, solitary or sparingly clustered. (Name said by the author to mean "flower with a filiform peduncle," therefore probably composed of νῆμα, a thread, πούς, foot, and ἄνθος, flower.)
1. N. fasciculàris, Raf. (N. Canadensis, DC.)—Damp cold woods, from the mountains of Va. to Maine, Ind., Wisc., and northward. May.
Order 26. CELASTRÀCEÆ. (Staff-tree Family.)
Shrubs with simple leaves, and small regular flowers, the sepals and the petals both imbricated in the bud, the 4 or 5 perigynous stamens as many as the petals and alternate with them, inserted on a disk which fills the bottom of the calyx and sometimes covers the ovary. Seeds arilled.—Ovules one or few (erect or pendulous) in each cell, anatropous; styles united into one. Fruit 2–5-celled, free from the calyx. Embryo large, in fleshy albumen; cotyledons broad and thin. Stipules minute and fugacious. Pedicels jointed.
[*] Leaves alternate. Flowers in terminal racemes.
1. Celastrus. A shrubby climber. Fruit globose, orange, 3-valved. Aril scarlet.
[*][*] Leaves opposite. Flowers in axillary cymes or solitary.
2. Euonymus. Erect shrubs. Leaves deciduous. Fruit 3–5-lobed. 3–5-valved. Aril red.
3. Pachystima. Dwarf evergreen shrub. Flowers very small. Fruit oblong, 2-valved. Aril white.
1. CELÁSTRUS, L. Staff-tree. Shrubby Bitter-sweet.
Flowers polygamo-diœcious. Petals (crenulate) and stamens 5, inserted on the margin of a cup-shaped disk which lines the base of the calyx. Pod globose (orange-color and berry-like), 3-celled, 3-valved, loculicidal. Seeds 1 or 2 in each cell, erect, enclosed in a pulpy scarlet aril.—Leaves alternate. Flowers small, greenish, in raceme-like clusters terminating the branches. (An ancient Greek name for some evergreen, which our plant is not.)
1. C. scándens, L. (Wax-work. Climbing Bitter-sweet.) Twining shrub; leaves ovate-oblong, finely serrate, pointed.—Along streams and thickets. June.—The opening orange-colored pods, displaying the scarlet covering of the seeds, are very ornamental in autumn.
2. EUÓNYMUS, Tourn. Spindle-tree.
Flowers perfect. Sepals 4 or 5, united at the base, forming a short and flat calyx. Petals 4–5, rounded, spreading. Stamens very short, inserted on the edge or face of a broad and flat 4–5-angled disk, which coheres with the calyx and is stretched over the ovary, adhering to it more or less. Style short or none. Pod 3–5-lobed, 3–5-valved, loculicidal. Seeds 1–4 in each cell, enclosed in a red aril.—Shrubs, with 4-sided branchlets, opposite serrate leaves, and loose cymes of small flowers on axillary peduncles. (Derivation from εὖ, good, and ὄνομα, name, because it has the bad reputation of poisoning cattle. Tourn.)
1. E. atropurpùreus, Jacq. (Burning-bush. Waahoo.) Shrub tall (6–14° high) and upright; leaves petioled, oval-oblong, pointed; parts of the (dark-purple) flower commonly in fours; pods smooth, deeply lobed.—N. Y. to Wisc., Neb., and southward; also cultivated. June.—Ornamental in autumn, by its copious crimson fruit, drooping on long peduncles.
2. E. Americànus, L. (Strawberry Bush.) Shrub low, upright or straggling (2–5° high); leaves almost sessile, thickish, bright green, varying from ovate to oblong-lanceolate, acute or pointed; parts of the greenish-purple flowers mostly in fives; pods rough-warty, depressed, crimson when ripe; the aril and dissepiments scarlet.—Wooded river-banks, N. Y. to Ill., and southward. June.
Var. obovàtus, Torr. & Gray. Trailing, with rooting branches; flowering stems 1–2° high; leaves thin and dull, obovate or oblong.—Low or wet places; the commoner form.
3. PACHÝSTIMA, Raf.
Flowers perfect. Sepals and petals 4. Stamens 4, on the edge of the broad disk lining the calyx-tube. Ovary free; style very short. Pod small, oblong, 2-celled, loculicidally 2-valved. Seeds 1 or 2, enclosed in a white membranaceous many-cleft aril.—Low evergreen shrubs, with smooth serrulate coriaceous opposite leaves and very small green flowers solitary or fascicled in the axils. (Derivation obscure.)
1. P. Cánbyi, Gray. Leaves linear to linear-oblong or oblong-obovate, obtuse, 3´´–1´ long; pedicels very slender, often solitary, shorter than the leaves; fruit 2´´ long.—Mountains of S. W. Va.
Order 27. RHAMNÀCEÆ. (Buckthorn Family.)
Shrubs or small trees, with simple leaves, small and regular flowers (sometimes apetalous), with the 4 or 5 perigynous stamens as many as the valvate sepals and alternate with them, accordingly opposite the petals! Drupe or pod with only one erect seed in each cell, not arilled.—Petals