ACANTHACEAE. 



VOL. III. 



3. Ruellia parviflora (Xees) Britton. 

 Slender Hairy Ruellia. Fig. 3891. 



Dipteracanthus ciliosus parviflorus Nees, Linnaea 



16 : 294. 1842. 



R. cilosa ambigua A. Gray, Syn. Fl. 2 1 : 326. 1878. 

 Ruellia ciliosa parviflora Britton, in Britton & 



Brown, 111. Fl. Ed. i, 3: 203. 1898. 

 R. parviflora Britton, Man. 854. 1901. 



Sparingly finely pubescent, but green; stem 

 erect, 6'-i8' tall, simple or sometimes spar- 

 ingly branched. Leaves minutely pubescent, 

 ciliolate, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, or some- 

 times oval, ii'-4' long, obtuse or acutish, un- 

 dulate, rather acuminately narrowed at the 

 base, manifestly petioled; flowers solitary or 

 clustered in the axils, the pedicels very short ; 

 calyx-segments linear-filiform, bristly, 8"-i2" 

 long; corolla blue, \\'-2 r long, the tube some- 

 what longer than the throat and somewhat ex- 

 ceeding the calyx, the limb \'-\\' broad; cap- 

 sule oblong above the stipe-like base, barely 

 8" long. 



In sandy soil, Maryland to Indiana, Florida and 

 Texas. May-Aug. 



4. Ruellia pedunculata Torr. 

 Ruellia. Fig. 3892. 



Stalked 



Ruellia pedunculata Torr. ; A. Gray, Syn. Fl. 

 2: Part i, 326. 1878. 



Finely pubescent; stem erect, i-2* tall, 

 the branches spreading. Leaves ovate to 

 oblong-lanceolate, acute or acuminate at 

 the apex, narrowed at the base, short- 

 petioled, the larger 2'-$' long; peduncles 

 slender, spreading, i'-3' long, with 2 leaf- 

 like bracts at the summit which subtend a 

 solitary flower, or 2 or 3 slender-pedicelled 

 ones with pedicels similarly bracted ; calyx- 

 segments awn-like, equalling the narrow 

 corolla-tube, or snorter ; corolla funnel- 

 form, ii'-2' long; capsule about 10" long, 

 puberulent, longer than the calyx. 



In dry soil, Illinois and Missouri to Arkan- 

 sas and Louisiana. June-Sept. 



3. DIANTHERA L. Sp. PI. 27. 



1753- 



Herbs mostly perennial, with entire or rarely dentate leaves, and small or large very 

 irregular flowers, variously clustered or solitary in the axils. Calyx deeply 4~5-parted, the 

 segments narrow. Corolla-tube slender, short or elongated, curved or nearly straight, the 

 limb conspicuously 2-lipped ; upper lip interior in the bud, erect or ascending, concave, entire, 

 or 2-dentate; lower lip spreading, 3-cleft. Stamens 2, inserted on the throat of the corolla, 

 not exceeding the upper lip; anther-sacs ovate or oblong, slightly divergent, not mucronate, 

 separated by a rathed broad connective. Ovules 2 in each cavity of the ovary ; style slender ; 

 stigma entire, or 2-lobed. Capsule contracted at the base into a long stipe, about 4-seeded. 

 Seeds flat, orbicular or ovate, the placentae not separating from the walls of the capsule. 

 [Greek, double anthers.] 



About 100 species, natives of tropical America, a few in tropical Asia and Africa. Besides the 

 following, 4 others occur in the southern and southwestern United States. Type species : Dianthera 

 americana L. 



i. D. americana. 



Flowers capitate, the heads dense, at length oblong. 

 Flowers in loose spikes. 



Flowers in pairs in the spikes. 



Flowers scattered singly along the spikes. 



2. D. ovata. 



3. D. lanceolata. 



