LVII. LYTHRACEA (HIERN). 465 
Shrubs or trees. 
Capsule valvular. Calyx with oblique mouth. Stamens de- 
CUUMG a ke ee 
Capsule bursting transversely. Calyx straight. Stamens not 
declinate. 
Flowers hexamerous. Capsule scarcely exceeding the cor- 
nuate infundibuliform calyx... . «+ es . 7. Paupn. 
Flowers tetramerous. Capsule much exceeding the non- i 
cornuate spreading calyx . . . . . §&. Lawsonia.. 
Ovary more or less adherent to the calyx-tube. Fruit drupaceous 
or baccate. (Anomalous genera.) 
Stamens very numerous. Flowers 6-7-merous . . . . . . 9. SONNERATIA. 
Stamens definite. Flowers 4—-5-merous, : 
Ovary I-celled, 1-2-ovuled. Stamens8or10. . . . . . 10, SrrepHoNeMA. 
Ovary 3-5-celled; cells few-ovuled. Stamens5 . . . . . 11, Oxinia. 
1. LYTHRUM, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. i. 779. 
Calyx tubular with 4 cornua and deltoid lobes ; petals opposite the 
cornua, corrugated in bud; stamens 2 or 8; stigma capitate; ovary 
free, sessile, 2-celled, with ovules arranged in 4 longitudinal ive 
the thick placenta. Capsule included in the calyx, 2-celled, dehiscing 
septicidally ; seeds many, small.—Glabrous herbs with entire, opposite, 
or alternate leaves, and solitary, axillary, subsessile flowers. 
A genus of a few species; occurs in most parts of the world. 
se : 4 : longer than the pas 
ao narrow, alternate. Cornua long es cd ds Pham e 
Stamens 8. Leaves round, opposite. " Cornua very short . , 2. L. rotundifolium. 
l. L. Thymifolia, Linn. ; DC. Prod. iii. 81. Stem prostrate or pro- 
cumbent, terete, with angular branches, 2-24in. long. Leaves poe 
nate, linear, the lower ones oblong-lanceolate acute, not more than 
4-1 in. long. Bracts deciduous, linear, shorter than the calyx. Calyx 
narrowly tubular, 8-veined, the 4 stronger veins proceeding to we 
cornua ; calyx-lobes shorter than the cornua. Petals ligulate or o 
ovate. Stamens 2, opposite, not exceeding the calyx-tube, and ome 
at a third above its base. Ovary oblong, equalling the erect style which 
Teaches to the level of the stamens. Capsule oblong, subquadrangular. 
Wile Land. In damp places, Abyssinia, Schimper! 
Widely distributed, 
2. L. rotundifolium, Hochst. in A. Rich. Fl. Abyss. i. 230. Stem 
creeping, terete, rubicund, with short, ascending —— sie long. 
caves opposite, very shortly stalked, round-oval, 4—J in. ong; = 
ceeding the calyx. Calyx with wide, 8-veined, scarcely ribbed tu °; 
depresso-deltoid’ mucronate lobes, and very short cornua ; cylindrica 
mn fruit. Petals long, unguiculate. Stamens 8, exserted; those “pe 
Site the calyx-lobes the longer. Ovary narrowly ovoid, Paige 
a Towing into the short thick style—According to Hochstetter the 
flowers are pentamerous. 
Wile Land. By streams and in swamps, Abyssinia, Schimper ! 
VOL. II, HH 
