PUNICACEAE 829 
fluted, slightly expanding above the middle: sepals triangular, acute, the accessory teeth 
subulate, surpassing the sepals, conspicuous: petals 6, deep or violet-purple, obovate or 
cuneate-obovate, slightly crisped, rounded at the apex : stamens 6: capsules oblong, about 
3 as long as the hypanthium. 
In swamps and along streams, Ontario to Minnesota, Kentucky and Arkansas, Summer and fall. 
8. PARSONSIA P. Br. 
Herbs or shubby plants, usually with a clammy pubescence. Stems terete or nearly so. 
Leaves opposite or whorled, or rarely alternate: blades entire. Flowers of various colors, 
irregular. Hypanthium elongated, saccate or spurred at the base, more or less oblique at 
the mouth, many-ribbed. Sepals 6, augmented by as many narrow teeth at their sinuses, 
or these sometimes wanting. Petals 6, unequal, clawed. Stamens 11 or 12, filaments 
short. Ovary unequally 2-celled, sessile or obliquely stalked: style filiform: stigma 2- 
lobed. Capsule oblong, included, I-celled, thin-membranous, sometimes oblique. Seeds 
flattened. Testa leathery. Embryo with orbicular cotyledons. [Cuphea P. Br. ] 
Hypanthium over 1.5 cm. long: corolla with the upper petals fully 10 mm. long. 1. P. procumbens. 
eum less than 1.5 em. long : corolla with the upper petals less than 10 mm. long. : 
edicels 1-2 mm. long: leaf-blades manifestly petioled: plants annual. - 2. P. petiolata. 
Pedicels 10-18 mm. long : leaf-blades sessile or nearly so: plants perennial. 3. P. lythroides. 
1. Parsonsía procümbens (Cav.) Small. Perennial, hispid with clammy hairs. 
Stems much branched, the branches decumbent or prostrate, 2-10 dm. long, obscurely 4- 
angled : leaf-blades lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 2-6 cm. long, acute or acutish, spar- 
ingly ciliate, narrowed or truncate at the sometimes oblique base, short-petioled : hypan- 
thium about 2 mm. long, bristly, spurred at the base, flaring at the throat : sepals broadly 
triangular except the half-orbicular upper one, the accessory teeth gland-like, often bristly : 
corolla showy : petals purple, clawed, the 4 lower ones cuneate-spatulate, the 2 upper with 
broadly oblong blades: capsule oblong, about 1 cm. long. [Cuphea procumbens Cav. ] 
In waste places, western North Carolina. Introduced from Mexico. Summer and fall. 
2. Parsonsia petiolàta (L.) Rusby. Annual, deep green, the foliage, except the leaf- 
blades, clammy pubescent. Stems erect, 1-7 dm. tall, branched above, the branches ascend- 
ing: leaf-blades ciliate, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 1-4.5 cm. long, rather obtuse but 
often somewhat acuminate, cuneately narrowed at the more or less oblique base ; petioles 
0.5-2 cm. long: pedicels 1-3 mm. long: hypanthium tubular, 10-15 mm. long, bristly, 
becoming more or less swollen at the middle, spurred at the base : sepals triangular, acute, 
the accessory teeth small, blunt: petals violet-purple, unequal, elliptic, oval or broadly 
obovate, rounded or retuse at the apex : stamens 12, included : capsule oblong, 8-9 mm. 
long, very thin : seeds lenticular, about 3 mm. broad. [Cuphea viscosissima Jacq. ] 
In dry rocky soilor on hillsides, Rhode Island to Ontario, Kansas, Georgia and Louisiana. Summer 
and fall. 'TAR-WEED. WaAX-WEED. 
3. Parsonsia lythroides Small. Perennial by a woody rootstock, the roots tuberous. 
Stems erect or assurgent, 2-6 dm. tall, simple or sparingly branched, hispid with clammy 
hairs : leaf-blades oblong or elliptic, in whorls of 3's or 4's, 1-2 cm. long, acute or acutish, 
sessile, or nearly so: Bed ical longer than the hypanthium, clammy: hypanthium tubular, 
8-10 mm. long, somewhat expanded toward the throat, bent, spurred at the base, spiny- 
pubescent except near the top: sepals triangular, except the somewhat reniform upper 
one, acute, the accessory teeth subulate: petals white or pale purple, spatulate, 5-6 mm. 
long, obtuse. [Cuphea aspera Chapm., not Willd. ] 
In low pine lands, western Florida. Spring and summer. 
FAMILY 8. PUNICACEAE Horan. POMEGRANATE FAMILY. 
Shrubs or small trees, with terete branches. Leaves opposite or nearly so, 
sometimes clustered : blades entire. Flowers perfect, showy, solitary or clustered 
in the axils, short-peduncled. Hypanthium leathery, turbinate, adnate to the 
Ovary. Sepals 5-7, ascending. Corolla of 5-7 petals inserted at the throat of 
the hypanthium, wrinkled. Androecium of numerous stamens in many series 
on the hypanthium. Filaments filiform. Anthers versatile. Gynoecium of 
Several united carpels. Ovary several-celled, inferior. Styles united. Stigma 
slightly lobed. Ovules numerous, superposed in 2 series. Fruit a several-celled 
erry crowned with the calyx, witha leathery coat, its septa membranous. Seeds 
angled, in a watery pulp, with a leathery testa. Embryo with spirally convolute 
cotyledons, each auricled at the base. 
