LYTHRARIEjE. 269 



tail of the anthers in these arcuate, and spiers ascending ; smaller anthers with the spurs 

 reduced into tubercles or obliterated. Ovary at length free, without terminal bristles, 2-3- 

 locular.— Herbs ; stem tetragonal ; pedicels short, most of them axillary, solitary or form- 

 ing small cymes, or arranged in a r acemi form panicle ; petals reddish or white. 



99. A. quadrata, Juss. — Annual ; branches numerous, most of them alternating ; 

 leaves lanceolate-elliptical, pointed, serrulate, shortly petioled; flowers axillary, drooping, 

 mostly unilateral ; petals 4-5; larger anthers obloug-linear, as long as their tail : spurs 

 setaceous; ovary bilocular. — Br. Jam. t. 22. f. 1. — Rhexia Acisanthera, L. ex synon. et 

 descr. .- by Naudin erroneously referred to the following species. Uranthera dicranophora, 

 Naud. — A slender plant, glabrous or hairy at the nodes, not glandular ; leaves small, 4'" 

 long, trinerved ; petals white. — Hab. Jamaica!, M'Nab, Pd.,Al., Wullschl , on pastures ; 

 [Portorico]. 



100. A. recurva, Gr. Annual, glandular ; branches mostly alternating ; leaves ovate 

 or lanceolate, bluntish, serrate, shortly petioled; flowers axillary, drooping, unilateral; pe- 

 tals 5 ; anthers a little tapering towards the top, nearly twice the length of their tail : 

 spurs clavate ; ovary trilocular.— Microlicia recurva, DC. Uranthera, Naud. — Leaves 

 small, 4'" long, subtrinerved ; petals red. — Hab. Jamaica!, Pd., Al.; Trinidad!, Lockh., 

 Cr., on pastures ; [Panama !, New Granada !, Guiana, equat. Brazil !]. 



101. A. brevifolia, Gr. Glabrous, span-high, stoloniferous at the base; stem nearly 

 simple below the inflorescence ; leaves entire, sessile, with a broad base, inferior ovate, 

 blunt, superior longer, oblong -lanceolate, all very small; cyme terminal: pedicels erect, 

 equalling the bracts ; petals 5 ; anthers tapering towards the top, a little longer than their 

 tail : spurs clavate, blunt, scarcely half the length of the tail ; ovary bilocular. — Notero- 

 phila, Naud. Rhexia paludosa, Salzm. PI. Bah. ! — Microlicia brevifolia, DC. {Jubl. t. 155 

 b : Mel. trivalvis, ej.), though differing by a trilocular ovary, is probably the same plant, 

 and has been considered as such by Naudin. — Leaves 2'"— 3'" long, subuninerved ; cyme con- 

 stituted of a small number of rather distant flowers ; petals red. — Hab. Trinidad !, Pd., 

 Cr., on wet savannahs j [Guiana, Brazil 1]. 



LXIX. LYTHRAKIEiE. 



Stamens definite, inserted into the valvate calyx, usually lower down than the petals. 

 Ovary superior, mostly syncarpous : ovules oo : style simple. Capsule many(-few)-seeded: 

 seeds exalbuminous. — Leaves exstipulate, usually opposite and entire. 



Some Lythrariea are acrid, medical plants (Cuphea, Lagerstrcemia). A pigment, called 

 Henna by the Arabs, is obtained from Lawsonia. 



1. CUPHEA, P. Br. 



Calyx tubular, 12-ribbed, gibbous, or spurred at the base. Petals 5-7, unequal. Stamens 

 usually twice as many. Ovary unequally 2-celled, with a basilar gland on the upper side. 

 Capsule bursting laterally : seeds compressed. — Herbs or shrubs. 



1. C. Parsonsia, R. Br. Annual; stem diffuse, scabrous-pubescent; leaves orate or 

 oblong, shortly petioled, glabrescent (or scabrous) ; flowers alternate, subsessile or shortly 

 pedicellate, obliquely inserted into the axils, about half as long as the leaves; calyx gibbous 

 at the base : teeth minute ; j^tals 6 (-7) ; stamens 6, included, two exceeding the rest : fila- 

 ments short, glabrous ; stigma capitate ; capsule few-seeded. — Br. Jam. t. 21. /. 2. — Lythrum, 

 L. C. radicans, Macf., and C. hirta, DC. r: the scabrous-leaved form. C. Swartziana, Rich. 

 Cub. {non Spre'ng.). — Spithameous, prostrate ; leaves 6"'-4"' long, pointed, or bluntish ; calyx 

 2"'-3"'long; petals pale-purple, 1"' long.— Hab. Jamaica!, all coll., common in pastures; 

 [Cuba!]. 



2. C. viscosissima, Jacq. Annual ; stem virgate, viscid-pubescent ; leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, petioled, slightly scabrous ; flowers alternate, pedicellate : pedicels juxtapetiolar, 

 much shorter than the calyx ; calyx viscid, with a short, blunt spur at the base : teeth 

 minute; stamens 12 (-8) : filaments villous; capsule few-seeded.— Jacq. II. Find. ii. /. 177. 

 — Lvthrum petiolatum, L. L. Cuphea, L. L. Melanium, L. (Cuphea, R. Br.) ? : probably 

 tbe same plant, but in herbaria usually confounded with the preceding— Leaves 8"'-10 r " 



