258 Ohio buckeye
BUCKTHORN FAMILY
259. INDIAN CHERRY (Rhamnus caroliniana Walt.) or yellow buckthorn, a shrub or small tree, fairly common in rich, low woods and limestone slopes. Leaves: glossy, dark green, 2 to 5 in. long and 1 to 2 in. wide, rounded at base and acute or acuminate at tip, margins obscurely serrate, veins yellow, evenly spaced and prominent on the under side; turning dark purple or yellow in autumn, tardily deciduous on young trees. Twigs: with naked winter buds small and pointed. Flowers: in May, inconspicuous, usually dioecious. Fruit: size of small peas, containing 2 to 4 seeds; scattered, on short stems; red in summer, turning black in autumn. Wood: hard, light brown, close-grained and brittle.
259 Indian cherry
260. NEW JERSEY TEA (Ceanothus ovatus Desf.) or RED-ROOT; a shrub 1 to 3 feet high, common on dry uplands of woods, meadows and roadsides. Leaves: veins depressed above and prominent beneath as in the other two local members of this family, lowest pair longest, not dark and glossy above, 1 or 2 in. long, less than half as wide. Twigs: slender, retaining stems and whitish fruit “cups” in winter. Flowers: tiny, white, fragrant, in small, dense, rather cone-shaped clusters; the 5 petals and 5 sepals all white and incurved, petals forming a hood from which anthers project; in April. Fruit: small, three-lobed, white, ripening in summer. [K] (p. 216.)
260 New Jersey tea; fruit
261. RATTAN VINE or SUPPLE-JACK (Berchemia scandens Trel.) a fairly common, high-climbing, woody vine of low woods. Leaves: similar to Indian cherry except much smaller, 1 to 2 in. long. Stems: smooth, greenish, pliable, tough, very slender when young, becoming several inches thick in old age. Flowers: small, greenish-white, in small panicles. Fruit: oval, blackish, about ¼ in. long, containing one seed. [B] (Vol. II, p. 502).