Part 45

Calyx inversely conical, 4-toothed; the tube 4-ribbed, coherent with the 2--4-celled ovary. Petals 4, united at base, or oftener to the middle, into an open bell-shaped corolla, convolute or imbricated in the bud. Stamens 8--16; filaments united into a ring at base, and usually a little coherent with the base of the corolla; anthers linear-oblong. Ovules 4 in each cell. Fruit large and dry, 2--4-winged, within bony and 1--4-celled. Seeds single, cylindrical.--Shrubs or small trees, with large and veiny pointed deciduous leaves, and showy white flowers, drooping on slender pedicels, in clusters or short racemes, from axillary buds of the preceding year. Pubescence partly stellate. (Named for _Stephen Hales_, author of Vegetable Statics, &c.)

1. H. tetraptera, L. Leaves oblong-ovate; fruit 4-winged, 11/2' long.--Banks of streams, W. Va. to Ill., south to Fla.

3. SYMPLOCOS, Jacq. SWEET-LEAF.

Calyx 5-cleft, the tube coherent with the lower part of the 3-celled ovary. Petals 5, imbricated in the bud, lightly united at base. Stamens very numerous, in 5 clusters, one cohering with the base of each petal; filaments slender; anthers very short. Fruit drupe-like or dry, mostly 1-celled and 1-seeded.--Shrubs or small trees, the leaves commonly turning yellowish in drying, and furnishing a yellow dye. Flowers in axillary clusters or racemes, yellow. (Name [Greek: sy/mplokos], _connected_, from the union of the stamens.)

1. S. tinctoria, L'Her. (HORSE-SUGAR, &c.) Leaves elongated-oblong, acute, obscurely toothed, thickish, almost persistent, minutely pubescent and pale beneath (3--5' long); flowers 6--14, in close and bracted clusters, odorous.--Rich ground, Del. to Fla. and La. April.--Leaves sweet, greedily eaten by cattle.

ORDER 65. OLEACEAE. (OLIVE FAMILY.)

_Trees or shrubs, with opposite and pinnate or simple leaves, a 4-cleft (or sometimes obsolete) calyx, a regular 4-cleft or nearly or quite 4-petalous corolla, sometimes apetalous; the stamens only 2 (rarely or accidentally 3 or 4); the ovary 2-celled, with 2 (rarely more) ovules in each cell._--Seeds anatropous, with a large straight embryo in hard fleshy albumen, or without albumen.--The Olive is the type of the true Oleaceae, to which belongs the Lilac (_Syringa_), etc.; and the Jessamine (_Jasminum_) represents another division of the order.

Tribe I. FRAXINEAE. Fruit dry, indehisccnt, winged, a samara. Leaves pinnate.

1. Fraxinus. Flowers dioecious, mostly apetalous, sometimes also without calyx.

Tribe II. OLEINEAE. Fruit, a drupe, or rarely a berry. Leaves simple.

2. Forestiera. Flowers apetalous, dioecious or polygamous, from a scaly catkin-like bud. Stamens 2--4.

3. Chionanthus. Flowers complete, sometimes polygamous. Calyx and corolla 4-merous, the latter with long and linear divisions.

4. Ligustrum. Corolla funnel-form, 4-cleft, the tube longer than the calyx.

1. FRAXINUS, Tourn. ASH.

Flowers polygamous or (in our species) dioecious. Calyx small and 4-cleft, toothed, or entire, or obsolete. Petals 4, or altogether wanting in our species. Stamens 2, sometimes 3 or 4; anthers linear or oblong, large. Style single; stigma 2-cleft. Fruit a 1--2-celled samara or _key-fruit_, flattened, winged at the apex, 1--2-seeded. Cotyledons elliptical; radicle slender.--Light timber-trees, with petioled pinnate leaves of 3--15 either toothed or entire leaflets; the small flowers in crowded panicles or racemes from the axils of last year's leaves. (The classical Latin name.)

[*] _Leaflets petiolulate; anthers linear-oblong; calyx small, persistent._

[+] _Fruit winged only at the upper part of the terete or nearly terete body._

1. F. Americana, L. (WHITE ASH.) _Branchlets and petioles glabrous_; leaflets 7--9, ovate- or lance-oblong, pointed, pale and either smooth or pubescent underneath, entire or sparingly serrate or denticulate; _fruit_ (about 11/2' long) _marginless below, abruptly dilated into a lanceolate, oblanceolate, or wedge-linear wing_ 2 or 3 times as long as the terete cylindraceous body.--Rich or moist woods, common from the Atlantic to Minn., E. Neb. and Kan. April, May.--A large and very valuable forest tree, with gray furrowed bark, smooth gray branchlets and rusty-colored buds. Monoecious flowers rarely occur.

[++][++] _Body of fruit more slender, tapering gradually from summit to base, more or less margined upward by the decurrent wing._

2. F. pubescens, Lam. (RED ASH.) _Branchlets and petioles velvety-pubescent_; leaflets 7--9, ovate or oblong-lanceolate, taper-pointed, almost entire, pale or more or less pubescent beneath; _fruit 11/2--2' long, the edges gradually dilated into the linear or spatulate wing_.--Low grounds, throughout our range; rare west of Ohio.--Tree of middle or large size; inner face of outer bark of the branches red or cinnamon-color when fresh.

3. F. viridis, Michx. f. (GREEN ASH.) _Glabrous throughout; leaflets 5--9_, ovate or oblong-lanceolate, often wedge-shaped at the base and serrate above, _bright green both sides; fruit_ much as in n. 2.--Along streams; common.--Intermediate forms occur with paler leaves somewhat pubescent beneath. A small or middle-sized tree.

[+][+] _Fruit with compressed and wing-margined body._

4. F. platycarpa, Michx. (WATER-ASH.) _Branchlets terete_, glabrous or pubescent; leaflets 5--7, ovate or oblong, acute at both ends, short-stalked; _fruit broadly winged_ (not rarely 3-winged), _oblong_ (9'' wide), _with a tapering base_.--Deep river-swamps, Va. to La. March. Tree of middle size.

5. F. quadrangulata, Michx. (BLUE ASH.) _Branchlets square_, at least on vigorous shoots, glabrous; leaflets 7--9, short-stalked, oblong-ovate or lanceolate, pointed, sharply serrate, green both sides; _fruit narrowly oblong, blunt, and of the same width at both ends_, or slightly narrowed at the base, often notched at the apex (11/2' long, 3--4'' wide).--Dry or moist rich woods, Ohio to Mich. and Minn., south to Tenn.--Large timber tree, the inner bark yielding a blue color to water.

[*][*] _Lateral leaflets sessile; anthers short-oblong; flowers wholly naked_.

6. F. sambucifolia, Lam. (BLACK ASH.) Branchlets and petioles glabrous; leaflets 7--11, oblong-lanceolate, tapering to a point, serrate, obtuse or rounded at the base, green and smooth both sides, when young with some rusty hairs along the midrib; fruit linear-oblong or narrowly elliptical, blunt at both ends.--Swamps and wet banks, N. Scotia to Minn., south to Va. and Mo.--Small or middle-sized tree, with very tough and fissile wood. Bruised foliage exhales the odor of Elder.

2. FORESTIERA, Poir.

Flowers dioecious, crowded in catkin-like scaly buds from the axils of last year's leaves, imbricated with scales. Corolla none. Calyx of 4 minute sepals. Stamens 2--4; anthers oblong. Ovary ovate, 2-celled, with 2 pendulous ovules in each cell; style slender; stigma somewhat 2-lobed. Drupe small, ovoid, 1-celled, 1-seeded.--Shrubs, with opposite and often fascicled deciduous leaves and small flowers. Fertile peduncles short, 1--3-flowered. (Named for _M. Forestier_, a French physician.)

1. F. acuminata, Poir. Glabrous, somewhat spinescent, 5--10 deg. high; leaves thin, oblong-ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate at both ends, often serrulate; drupe elongated-oblong, usually pointed.--Wet river banks, S. W. Ind. to Mo., south to Tex. April.

3. CHIONANTHUS, L. FRINGE-TREE.

Calyx 4-parted, very small, persistent. Corolla of 4 long and linear petals, which are barely united at base. Stamens 2 (rarely 3 or 4), on the very base of the corolla, very short. Stigma notched. Drupe fleshy, globular, becoming 1-celled, 1--3-seeded.--Low trees or shrubs, with deciduous and entire petioled leaves, and delicate flowers in loose and drooping graceful panicles, from lateral buds. (Name from [Greek: chio/n], _snow_, and [Greek: a)/nthos], _blossom_, alluding to the light and snow-white clusters of flowers.)

1. C. Virginica, L. Leaves oval, oblong, or obovate-lanceolate; flowers on slender pedicels; petals 1' long, narrowly linear, acute, varying to 5 or 6 in number; drupe purple, with a bloom, ovoid (6--8'' long).--River banks, N. J. and S. Penn. to Fla., Tex., and Mo.; very ornamental in cultivation. June.

4. LIGUSTRUM, Tourn. PRIVET.

Calyx short-tubular, 4-toothed, deciduous. Stamens 2, on the tube of the corolla, included. Berry 2-celled, 1--2 seeded.--Shrubs, with entire leaves and small white flowers in terminal panicles. (The classical name.)

L. VULGARE, L. (PRIVET, or PRIM.) Leaves very smooth; berries black.--Used for low hedges, and naturalized eastward; from Europe.

ORDER 66. APOCYNACEAE. (DOGBANE FAMILY.)

_Plants almost all with milky acrid juice, entire (chiefly opposite) leaves without stipules, regular 5-merous and 5-androus flowers; the 5 lobes of the corolla convolute and twisted in the bud; the filaments distinct, inserted on the corolla, and the pollen granular_; calyx free from the two ovaries, which (in our genera) are distinct (forming follicles), though their styles or stigmas are united into one.--Seeds amphitropous or anatropous, with a large straight embryo in sparing albumen, often bearing a tuft of down (comose).--Chiefly a tropical family (of acrid-poisonous plants), represented in gardens by the Oleander and Periwinkle.

1. Amsonia. Seeds naked. Corolla-tube bearded inside. Anthers longer than the filaments. Leaves alternate.

2. Trachelospermum. Seeds comose. Corolla funnel-form, not appendaged. Filaments slender. Calyx glandular inside. Leaves opposite.

3. Apocynum. Seeds comose. Corolla bell-shaped, appendaged within. Filaments short, broad and flat. Calyx not glandular. Leaves opposite.

1. AMSONIA, Walt.

Calyx 5-parted, small. Corolla with a narrow funnel-form tube bearded inside, especially at the throat; the limb divided into 5 long linear lobes. Stamens 5, inserted on the tube, included; anthers obtuse at both ends, longer than the filaments. Ovaries 2; style 1; stigma rounded, surrounded with a cup-like membrane. Pod (follicles) 2, long and slender, many-seeded. Seeds cylindrical, abrupt at both ends, packed in one row, naked.--Perennial herbs, with _alternate leaves_, and pale blue flowers in terminal panicled cymes. (Said to be named for a _Mr. Charles Amson_.)

1. A. Tabernaemontana, Walt. Loosely pubescent or hairy when young, soon glabrous; leaves from ovate-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, taper-pointed; calyx-lobes short, awl-shaped; tube of the bluish corolla little longer than the lobes, the upper part either hairy when young or glabrous.--Low grounds, N. C. to S. Ind. and Mo., south to Fla. and Tex. May, June.

2. TRACHELOSPERMUM, Lemaire.

Calyx 5-parted, with 3--5 glands at its base inside. Corolla funnel-form, not appendaged; limb 5-lobed. Stamens 5, included; filaments slender; anthers arrow-shaped, with an inflexed tip. Pods (follicles) 2, slender, many-seeded. Seeds oblong, with a tuft of down.--Twining plants, more or less woody, with opposite leaves and small flowers in cymes. (Name from [Greek: tra/xelos], _a neck_, and [Greek: spe/rma], _seed_, upon the supposition that the seed was beaked.)

1. T. difforme, Gray. Nearly herbaceous and glabrous; leaves oval-lanceolate, pointed, thin; calyx-lobes taper-pointed; corolla pale yellow. (Forsteronia difformis, _A. DC._)--Damp grounds, Va. to Fla. and Tex. April.

3. APOCYNUM, Tourn. DOGBANE. INDIAN HEMP.

Calyx 5-parted, the lobes acute. Corolla bell-shaped, 5-cleft, bearing 5 triangular appendages below the throat opposite the lobes. Stamens 5, on the very base of the corolla; filaments flat, shorter than the arrow shaped anthers, which converge around the stigma, and are slightly adherent to it. Style none; stigma large, ovoid, slightly 2-lobed. Fruit of 2 long (2--7') and slender follicles. Seeds comose, with a tuft of long silky down at the apex.--Perennial herbs, with upright branching stems, opposite mucronate-pointed leaves, a tough fibrous bark, and small and pale cymose flowers on short pedicels. (Ancient name of the Dogbane, composed of [Greek: a)po/], _from_, and [Greek: ky/on], _a dog_.)

1. A. androsaemifolium, L. (SPREADING DOGBANE.) Smooth, or rarely soft-tomentose, branched above; _branches divergently forking; leaves ovate, distinctly petioled; cymes loose, spreading_, mostly longer than the leaves; _corolla_ (pale rose-color, 4'' broad) _open-bell-shaped, with revolute lobes, the tube much longer than the ovate pointed divisions of the calyx_.--Borders of thickets; common. June, July.

2. A. cannabinum, L. (INDIAN HEMP.) Glabrous or more or less soft-pubescent; stem and branches _upright or ascending_ (2--3 deg. high), terminated by _erect and close many-flowered cymes_, which are usually shorter than the leaves; leaves from oval to oblong and even lanceolate, short-petioled or sessile, with rounded or obscurely cordate base; _corolla_ (greenish-white) _with nearly erect lobes, the tube not longer than the lanceolate divisions of the calyx_.--Moist grounds and banks of streams; common. Very variable. July, Aug.

ORDER 67. ASCLEPIADACEAE. (MILKWEED FAMILY.)

_Plants with milky juice, and opposite or whorled (rarely scattered) entire leaves; the follicular pods, seeds, anthers (connected with the stigma), sensible properties, etc., just as in the last family, from which they differ in the commonly valvate corolla, and in the singular connection of the anthers with the stigma, the cohesion of the pollen into wax-like or granular masses_ (pollinia), etc., as explained under the typical genus Asclepias.

PERIPLOCA GRAECA, L., a woody climbing plant of the Old World, in ornamental cultivation, and in one or two places inclined to be spontaneous, represents a tribe with granulose pollen loosely aggregated in two masses in each anther-cell. It has a brownish rotate corolla, very hairy within, and with 5 awned scales in the throat.

Tribe I. CYNANCHEAE. Anthers tipped with an inflexed or sometimes erect scarious membrane, the cells lower than the top of the stigma; pollinia suspended.

[*] Stems erect or merely decumbent.

1. Asclepiodora. Corolla rotate, merely spreading. Crown of 5 hooded fleshy bodies, with a salient crest in each. Leaves alternate.

2. Asclepias. Corolla reflexed, deeply 5-parted. Crown as in n. 1, but with an incurved horn rising from the cavity of each hood. Leaves usually opposite.

3. Acerates. Corolla reflexed or merely spreading. Crown as in n. 1, but with neither crest nor horn inside. Leaves mainly alternate.

[*][*] Stems twining. Leaves mostly opposite.

4. Enslenia. Corolla erect. Crown of 5 membranaceous flat bodies, terminated by a 2-cleft tail or awn.

5. Vincetoxicum. Corolla rotate, spreading. Crown a fleshy 5--10-lobed ring or disk.

Tribe II. GONOLOBEAE. Anthers with short if any scarious tip, borne on the margin of or close under the disk of the stigma; pollinia horizontal.

6. Gonolobus. Corolla rotate. Crown a wavy-lobed fleshy ring. Stems twining.

1. ASCLEPIODORA, Gray.

Nearly as in Asclepias, but the corolla-lobes ascending or spreading, and the hoods destitute of a horn, widely spreading and somewhat incurved, slipper-shaped and laterally compressed, the cavity divided at the apex by a crest-like partition.--Umbels solitary and terminal or corymbed, loosely-flowered. Follicles oblong or ovate, often somewhat muricate with soft spinous projections. ([Greek: A)sklepio/s] and [Greek: do~ron] or [Greek: dorea/], _the gift of AEsculapius_.)

1. A. viridis, Gray. Almost glabrous; stems short (1 deg. high); leaves alternate, short-petioled, ovate-oblong to lanceolate, 1--2' wide; umbels several in a cluster, short-peduncled; flowers large (1' in diameter), green, with a purplish crown. (Acerates paniculata, _Decaisne_.)--Prairies, Ill. to Tex. and S. Car. June.

2. ASCLEPIAS, L. MILKWEED. SILKWEED.

Calyx 5-parted, persistent; the divisions small, reflexed. Corolla deeply 5-parted, the divisions valvate in the bud, reflexed, deciduous. _Crown_ of 5 hooded bodies seated on the tube of stamens, each containing an incurved horn. Stamens 5, inserted on the base of the corolla; filaments united in a tube which encloses the pistil, anthers adherent to the stigma, each with 2 vertical cells, tipped with a membranaceous appendage, each cell containing a flattened pear-shaped and waxy pollen-mass; the two contiguous pollen-masses of adjacent anthers, forming pairs which hang by a slender prolongation of their summits from 5 cloven glands that grow on the angles of the stigma (extricated from the cells by insects, and directing copious pollen-tubes into the point where the stigma joins the apex of the style). Ovaries 2, tapering into very short styles; the large depressed 5-angled fleshy stigmatic disk common to the two. Follicles 2, one of them often abortive, soft, ovate or lanceolate. Seeds anatropous, flat, margined, bearing a tuft of long silky hairs (_coma_) at the hilum, downwardly imbricated all over the large placenta, which separates from the suture at maturity. Embryo large, with broad foliaceous cotyledons in thin albumen.--Perennial upright herbs, with thick and deep roots; peduncles terminal or lateral and between the usually opposite petioles, bearing simple many-flowered umbels, in summer. (The Greek name of _AEsculapius_, to whom the genus is dedicated.)

Sec. 1. _Corneous anther-wings broadest and usually angulate-truncate and salient at base; horn conspicuous._

[*] _Flowers orange-color; leaves mostly scattered; juice not milky._

1. A. tuberosa, L. (BUTTERFLY-WEED. PLEURISY-ROOT.) Roughish-hairy (1--2 deg. high); stems erect or ascending, very leafy, branching at the summit, and bearing usually numerous umbels in a terminal corymb; leaves from linear to oblong-lanceolate, sessile or slightly petioled; divisions of the corolla oblong (greenish-orange); hoods narrowly oblong, bright orange, scarcely longer than the nearly erect and slender awl-shaped horns; pods hoary, erect on deflexed pedicels.--Dry fields, common, especially southward.--Var. DECUMBENS, Pursh. Stems reclining; leaves broader and more commonly opposite, and umbels from most of the upper axils.--Ohio to Ga., etc.

[*][*] _Corolla bright red or purple; follicles naked, fusiform, erect on the deflexed pedicels_ (except in n. 5); _leaves opposite, mostly broad_.

[+] _Flowers rather large; hoods about 3'' long and exceeding the anthers; leaves transversely veined._

2. A. paupercula, Michx. Glabrous; stem slender (2--4 deg. high); leaves elongated-lanceolate or linear (5--10' long), tapering to both ends, slightly petioled, _umbels 5--12-flowered_; divisions of the red corolla narrowly oblong; the _bright orange hoods_ broadly oblong, obtuse, much exceeding the incurved horn.--Wet pine-barrens on the coast, N. J. to Fla. and Tex.

3. A. rubra, L. _Glabrous; leaves ovate or lanceolate and tapering from a rounded or heart-shaped base_ to a very acute point, sessile or nearly so (2--6' long, 1/2--21/2' wide), bright green; umbels many-flowered; divisions of the corolla and hoods _oblong-lanceolate, purple-red; the horn long and slender, straightish_.--Wet pine-barrens, etc., N. J. and Penn. to Fla., La., and Mo.

4. A. purpurascens, L. (PURPLE M.) Stem rather slender (1--3 deg. high); _leaves elliptical or ovate-oblong_, the upper taper-pointed, _minutely velvety-downy underneath_, smooth above, _contracted at base into a short petiole; pedicels_ shorter than the peduncle, _3--4 times the length of the dark purple lanceolate-ovate divisions of the corolla_; hoods oblong, abruptly narrowed above; _the horn broadly scythe-shaped, with a narrow and abruptly inflexed horizontal point_.--Dry ground, N. Eng. to Minn., Tenn., and southward.--Flowers 6'' long.

[+][+] _Flowers small; hoods 1'' long, equalling the anthers; veins ascending._

5. A. incarnata, L. (SWAMP MILKWEED.) Smooth, or nearly so, in the typical form, the stem with two downy lines above and on the branches of the peduncles (2--3 deg. high), very leafy; leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute or pointed, obtuse or obscurely heart-shaped at base; flowers rose-purple; hoods scarcely equalling the slender needle-pointed horn.--Swamps, common.--Var. PULCHRA, Pers.; leaves broader and shorter-petioled, more or less hairy-pubescent, as well as the stem. Milky juice scanty.--With the smooth form.

[*][*][*] _Flowers greenish, yellowish, white, or merely purplish-tinged; leaves opposite or whorled, or the upper rarely scattered._

[+] _Follicles echinate with soft spinous processes, densely tomentose (smooth, and only minutely echinate at the apex in n. 8), large (3--5' long), ovate and acuminate, erect on deflexed pedicels; leaves large and broad, short-petioled; umbels terminal and lateral._

6. A. speciosa, Torr. Finely canescent-tomentose or glabrate, _the many-flowered umbel and calyx densely tomentose_; leaves _subcordate-oval_ to oblong; corolla-lobes purplish, ovate-oblong, 4--5'' long; hoods 5--6'' long, with a short inflexed horn, _the truncate summit abruptly produced into a very long lanceolate-ligulate appendage_.--Along streams, Minn. to Ark., and westward.

7. A. Cornuti, Decaisne. (COMMON MILKWEED or SILKWEED.) Stem tall and stout, finely soft-pubescent; _leaves_ oval-oblong (4--8' long), pale, _minutely downy beneath, as well as the peduncles_, etc.; corolla-lobes dull purple to white, 3--4'' long; _hoods_ rather longer than the anthers, _ovate, obtuse, with a tooth each side of the short stout claw-like horn_.--Rich ground, everywhere.

8. A. Sullivantii, Engelm. _Very smooth_ throughout, tall; leaves ovate-oblong with a somewhat heart-shaped base, nearly sessile; _hoods obovate_, entire, _obtusely 2-eared at the base_ outside; flowers larger (9'' long) and more purple than in the last; anther-wings 2-toothed at base; _pod_ nearly glabrous, obscurely _spiny chiefly on the beak_.--Low grounds, Ohio to Kan. and Minn.

[+][+] _Follicles wholly unarmed, either glabrous or tomentulose-pubescent_.

[++] _Erect or ascending on the deflexed or decurved fruiting pedicels._

[=] _Umbel solitary, on a naked terminal peduncle; leaves sessile, broad, transversely veined, wavy; glabrous and pale or glaucous._

9. A. Obtusifolia, Michx. Stem 2--3 deg. high; _leaves oblong with a heart-shaped clasping base_, very obtuse or retuse (21/2--5' long); peduncle 3--12' long; corolla pale greenish purple; hoods truncate, somewhat toothed at the summit, shorter than the slender awl-pointed horn.--Sandy woods and fields, not rare, especially southward. A second umbel at the base of the peduncle occasionally occurs.

10. A. Meadii, Torr. Stem slender (1--2 deg. high); leaves _ovate or oblong-ovate_, obtuse or acutish (11/2--21/2' long), peduncle only twice the length of the upper leaves, pedicels rather short, corolla greenish-white; hoods rounded-truncate at summit, and with a sharp tooth at each margin, somewhat exceeding the stouter horn.--Dry ground, Ill. and Iowa. June.

[=][=] _Umbels mostly more than one; peduncle not overtopping the leaves._

[a.] _Leaves large, orbicular to oblong-lanceolate; hoods broad, little if at all exceeding the anthers; glabrous or some minute pubescence on young parts._

11. A. Jamesii, Torr. Stem stout (1 deg. high or more); leaves about 5 pairs, approximate, _remarkably thick, rounded or broadly oval, often emarginate, subcordate at base, nearly sessile_; umbels 2--3, densely many-flowered, on short peduncles, corolla-lobes ovate, _greenish_; hoods truncate, entire.--Plains of central Kansas and southwestward.