LYTHRACEAE 827 
2-4 cm. long, obtuse or acutish, more or less revolute, paler beneath than above, sessile or 
nearly so: pedicels stout, 1-2 mm. long: hypanthium campanulate, often becoming tur- 
binate-campanulate, 3-4 mm. high, ribbed : sepals triangular, acute, } as long as the hy- 
panthium, erect or converging, their accessory teeth subulate, spreading-upcurved, sur- 
passing the sepals: petals yellow, obovate or orbicular-obovate, 6-10 mm. long, retuse or 
notched at the apex, somewhat crisped : stamens exserted : style surpassing the stamens: 
capsules obovoid, 5 mm. high. 
Along streams, southern Texas and through the tropics to Paraguay. Spring to fall. 
5. DECODON J. F. Gmel. 
Aquatic shrubs, with elongated virgate branches. Leaves opposite or whorled : blades 
entire. Flowers trimorphous, in axillary short-peduncled cymes. Hypanthium campan- 
ulate, ribbed. Sepals 5-7, furnished with as many accessory teeth at the sinuses. Petals 
purple. Stamens 10 or rarely 8, alternately shorter and longer, the longer exserted :. fila- 
ments filiform. Ovary 3-6-celled, globular: style filiform: stigma capitate. Capsules 
subglobose, loculicidally 3-6-valved. Seeds angled. Testa leathery. Swamp LOOSE- 
STRIFE. 
1. Decodon verticillatus (L.) Ell. An aquatic or marsh-inhabiting shrub, with 
pubescent or rarely glabrous foliage and wand-like curving stems, the submerged portions 
more or less densely coated with spongy tissue : leaf-blades lanceolate or elliptic-lanceo- 
late, 3-20 cm. long, acuminate, often undulate, acute or acuminate at the base, short-peti- 
oled: peduncles short and stout: pedicels 2-8 together, 5-10 mm. long: hypanthium 
campanulate, 4-5 mm. high, glabrous in age, ribbed: sepals triangular, acuminate, 
about j as long as the tube, the accessory teeth subulate, surpassing the sepals: petals 
purple, lanceolate to ovate, 7-9 mm. long, acuminate at both ends, crisped: longer 
stamens conspicuously exserted: capsules subglobose, 5 mm. in diameter: seeds angled, 
1.5-2 mm. thick. [ Nesaea verticillata (L.) H.B.K.] 
In swamps and lakes, Massachusetts to Ontario, Minnesota, Florida and Louisiana. Summer. 
6. LAGERSTROEMIA L. 
Shrubs or trees, with opposite or whorled branches and 4-angled twigs. Leaves 
mainly opposite: blades entire. Flowers usually showy, in terminal panicles. Hypan- 
thium turbinate or campanulate-turbinate, sometimes grooved. Sepals 6, "shorter than the 
hypanthium. Petals 6, clawed, crisped. Stamens numerous : filaments filiform, exserted : 
anthers versatile. Ovary 1-6-celled, included : style filiform: stigma capitate. Capsule 
leathery, loculicidally 3-6-valved. Seeds flattened, winged above. Testa membranous. 
Embryo with orbicular cotyledons. 
l. Lagerstroemia Indica L. A glabrous deep green shrub, 1-7 m. tall. Trunk 
clothed with a rough brownish bark, the branches erect or ascending : leaf-blades leathery, 
obovate or oval, 1-2.5 cm. long, obtuse or apiculate, entire, sessile or nearly 80 : lene 
showy, 1-3 dm. long, many-flowered : pedicels angled, 5-10 mm. long : hypanthium broadly 
turbinate, oblique, 4-6 mm. high, glaucescent: sepals triangular, acute, unequal, shorter 
sthan the hypanthium : petals 6, purple, pink or nearly white, the blades orbicular or reni- 
form in outline, lobed, strongly crisped, the claws inostly shorter than the blades : stamens 
exserted ; filaments twisted : capsules oval-globose, 8-9 mm. high, obtuse at the ends. 
In waste places, in and near gardens, widely cultivated and sparingly naturalized, from Maryland 
to Florida and Texas. Spring to fall. 
7. LYTHRUM L. 
Herbs or shrubs, with angled stems, our species perennial. Leaves alternate or 
Opposite, or rarely whorled: blades entire. Flowers axillary, or in terminal spikes or 
racemes. Hypanthium tubular, ribbed or finted, straight or nearly so, not spurred at the 
base. Sepals 4-6, accompanied by as many erect or spreading teeth. Petals 4-6, broadest 
above the middle, hardly clawed, essentially equal. Stamens 8-12, in 1 or 2 rows: fila- 
ments filiform. Ovary 2-celled : style filiform: stigma capitate. Capsule included, mem- 
branous, 2-celled, or becoming 1-celled by the breaking down of the septum, septicidally 2- 
valved or opening irregularly. Seeds plano-convex. Testa leathery, smooth. Embryo 
with auricled cotyledons. LOOSESTRIFE. 
