2. Æ. flàva, Ait. (Sweet Buckeye.) Stamens included in the yellow corolla; calyx oblong-campanulate; leaflets 5, sometimes 7, glabrous, or often minutely downy underneath.—Rich woods, Va. to Ohio, Mo., and southward. May. A large tree or a shrub.
Var. purpuráscens, Gray. Calyx and corolla tinged with flesh-color or dull purple; leaflets commonly downy beneath.—From W. Va., south and westward.
3. Æ. Pàvia, L. (Red Buckeye.) Stamens not longer than the corolla, which is bright red, as well as the tubular calyx; leaflets glabrous or soft-downy beneath.—Fertile valleys, Va., Ky., Mo., and southward. May. A shrub or small tree.
2. SAPÌNDUS, L. Soap-berry.
Flowers regular, polygamous. Sepals 4–5, imbricated in 2 rows. Petals 4–5, with a scale at the base. Stamens 8–10, upon the hypogynous disk. Ovary 3-celled, with an ascending ovule in each cell. Fruit a globose or 2–3-lobed berry, 1–3-seeded. Seed crustaceous, globose.—Trees or shrubs, with alternate abruptly pinnate leaves, and small flowers in terminal or axillary racemes or panicles. (Name a contraction of Sapo Indicus, Indian soap, having reference to the saponaceous character of the berries.)
1. S. acuminàtus, Raf. A tree 20–60° high; leaflets 4–9 pairs, obliquely lanceolate, sharply acuminate, entire, 1½–3´ long; the rhachis of the leaf not winged; flowers white, in a large panicle, fruit mostly globose, 6´´ broad. (S. marginatus of authors, not Willd.)—S. Kan. to La., Fla., and Mex.
3. ÀCER, Tourn. Maple.
Flowers polygamo-diœcious. Calyx colored, 5- (rarely 4–12-) lobed or parted. Petals either none or as many as the lobes of the calyx, equal, with short claws if any, inserted on the margin of the lobed disk, which is either perigynous or hypogynous. Stamens 3–12. Ovary 2-celled, with a pair of ovules in each cell; styles 2, long and slender, united only below, stigmatic down the inside. From the back of each carpel grows a wing, converting the fruit into two 1-seeded, at length separable samaras or keys. Embryo variously coiled or folded, with large and thin cotyledons.—Trees, or sometimes shrubs, with opposite palmately-lobed leaves, and small flowers. Pedicels not jointed. (The classical name, from the Celtic ac, hard.)
[*] Flowers in terminal racemes, greenish, appearing after the leaves; stamens 6–8.
1. A. Pennsylvánicum, L. (Striped Maple.) Leaves 3-lobed at the apex, finely and sharply doubly serrate, the short lobes taper-pointed and also serrate; racemes drooping, loose; petals obovate; fruit with large diverging wings.—Rich woods, Maine to Minn., and southward to Va., Ky., and Mo. June.—A small and slender tree, with light-green bark striped with dark lines, and greenish flowers and fruit. Also called Striped Dogwood and Moose-Wood.
2. A. spicàtum, Lam. (Mountain M.) Leaves downy beneath, 3- (or slightly 5-) lobed, coarsely serrate, the lobes taper-pointed; racemes upright, dense, somewhat compound; petals linear-spatulate; fruit with small erect or divergent wings.—Moist woods, with the same range as n. 1. June.—A tall shrub, forming clumps.
[*][*] Flowers in nearly sessile terminal and lateral umbellate-corymbs, greenish-yellow, appearing with the leaves.
3. A. saccharìnum, Wang. (Sugar or Rock M.) Leaves 3–5-lobed, with rounded sinuses and pointed sparingly sinuate toothed lobes, either heart-shaped or nearly truncate at the base, whitish and smooth or a little downy on the veins beneath; flowers from terminal leaf-bearing and lateral leafless buds, drooping on very slender hairy pedicels; calyx hairy at the apex; petals none; wings of the fruit broad, usually slightly diverging.—Rich woods, especially northward and along the mountains southward. April, May.—A large and handsome tree.
Var. nìgrum, Torr. & Gray. (Black Sugar-M.) Leaves scarcely paler beneath, but often minutely downy, the lobes wider, often shorter and entire, the sinus at the base often closed.—With the ordinary form; quite variable, sometimes appearing distinct.
[*][*][*] Flowers in umbel-like clusters arising from separate lateral buds, and much preceding the leaves; stamens 3–6.
4. A. dasycárpum, Ehrh. (White or Silver M.) Leaves very deeply 5-lobed with the sinuses rather acute, silvery-white (and when young downy) underneath, the divisions narrow, cut-lobed and toothed; flowers (greenish-yellow) on short pedicels; petals none; fruit woolly when young, with large divergent wings.—River-banks; most common southward and westward. March–April.—A fine ornamental tree.
5. A. rùbrum, L. (Red or Swamp M.) Leaves 3–5 lobed, with acute sinuses, whitish underneath; the lobes irregularly serrate and notched, acute, the middle one usually longest; petals linear-oblong; flowers (scarlet, crimson, or sometimes yellowish) on very short pedicels; but the smooth fruit on prolonged drooping pedicels.—Swamps and wet woods. April.—A small tree, with reddish twigs; the leaves varying greatly in shape, turning bright crimson in early autumn.
4. NEGÚNDO, Moench. Ash-leaved Maple. Box-Elder.
Flowers diœcious. Calyx minute, 4–5-cleft. Petals none. Stamens 4–5. Disk none.—Sterile flowers in clusters on capillary pedicels, the fertile in drooping racemes, from lateral buds. Leaves pinnate, with 3 or 5 leaflets. Fruit as in Acer. (Name unmeaning.)
1. N. aceroìdes, Moench. Leaflets smoothish when old, very veiny, ovate, pointed, toothed; fruit smooth, with large rather incurved wings.—River-banks, W. New Eng. to Dak., south and westward. April.—A small but handsome tree, with light-green twigs, and very delicate drooping clusters of small greenish flowers, rather earlier than the leaves.
5. STAPHYLÈA, L. Bladder-Nut.
Calyx deeply 5-parted, the lobes erect, whitish. Petals 5, erect, spatulate, inserted on the margin of the thick perigynous disk which lines the base of the calyx. Stamens 5, alternate with the petals. Pistil of 3 several-ovuled carpels, united in the axis, their long styles lightly cohering. Pod large, membranaceous, inflated, 3-lobed, 3-celled, at length bursting at the summit; the cells containing 1–4 bony anatropous seeds. Aril none. Embryo large and straight, in scanty albumen, cotyledons broad and thin.—Upright shrubs, with opposite pinnate leaves of 3 or 5 serrate leaflets, and white flowers in drooping raceme-like clusters, terminating the branchlets. Stipules and stipels deciduous. (Name from σταφυλή, a cluster.)
1. S. trifòlia, L. (American Bladder-nut.) Leaflets 3, ovate, pointed.—Thickets, in moist soil. May.—Shrub 10° high, with greenish striped branches.
Order 30. ANACARDIÀCEÆ. (Cashew Family.)
Trees or shrubs, with resinous or milky acrid juice, dotless alternate leaves, and small, often polygamous, regular, 5-merous flowers, but the ovary 1-celled and 1-ovuled, with 3 styles or stigmas.—Petals imbricated in the bud. Fruit mostly drupaceous. Seed without albumen, borne on a curved stalk that rises from the base of the cell. Stipules none. Juice or exhalations often poisonous.
1. RHÚS, L. Sumach.
Calyx small, 5-parted. Petals 5. Stamens 5, inserted under the edge or between the lobes of a flattened disk in the bottom of the calyx. Fruit small and indehiscent, a sort of dry drupe.—Leaves usually compound. Flowers greenish-white or yellowish. (The old Greek and Latin name.)
§ 1. RHUS proper. Fruit symmetrical, with the styles terminal.
[*] Flowers polygamous, in a terminal thyrsoid panicle; fruit globular, clothed with acid crimson hairs; stone smooth; leaves odd-pinnate. (Not poisonous.)—(§ Sumac, DC.)
1. R. týphina, L. (Staghorn Sumach.) Branches and stalks densely velvety-hairy; leaflets 11–31, pale beneath, oblong-lanceolate, pointed, serrate, rarely laciniate.—Hillsides. June.—Shrub