150 LOOSKSTK1KK FAMILY. 



-i- Flower reyular or nearly so : pod many-seeded, included in the calyx. 



3. NES-iEA. Calyx short bell-shaped or hemispherical. Stamens 10-14, twice 



as many as the petals, in 2 sets, with long projecting filaments. Style slen- 

 der. Pod globular, 3 -5-celled. Leaves mostly whorled in threes or opposite. 



4. LYTHRUM. Calyx cylindrical, 8-12-ribbed or striate. Petals 5-7. Stamens 



5-14. Style slender. Pod oblong, 2-celled. Leaves sessile. 

 6. AMMAXNIA. Calyx short, 4-angled. Petals 4 and small, or none. Stamens 

 4, short. Pod globular, 2-4-celled. Leaves opposite, narrow. 



i -i- Flower irregular : pod mostly f tie-seeded. 



6. CUPHKA. Calyx elongated, mostly many-ribbed, gibbous, spurred, or with a 

 sac-like projection at base on the upper side, oblique at the mouth, which 

 has 6 proper teeth, and u-ually as many intermediate accessory ones or pro- 

 cesses. Petals mostly 0, with claws, and very unequal, the two upper ones 

 larger; sometimes all or part wanting. Stamens 1 1 or 12, unequal : filaments 

 short. A gland at the base of the ovary on the upper side. Style slender: 

 stigma 2-lobed. Ovary flat, 2-celled, but one cell smaller and sterile or 

 empty. Pod enclosed in the calyx, and bursting through it on the lower 

 side; the placenta bearing a few flat seeds, hardening, curving, and at length 

 projecting through the rupture. 



1. PUNICA, POMEGRANATE. (The name means Carthaginian.) 



P. Granatum. Tree cult, from the Orient, as a house-plant X. : smooth, 

 with small oblong or obovate obtuse leaves, either opposite or scattered, mostly 

 dustcivil <>n short branehlcts ; the flowers short-Stalked, usually solitary, large, 

 both calyx ami corolla bright scarlet, with 5-7 petals, or full double ; the fruit 

 as large as a small apple. 



2. LAGERSTRCEMIA, CHAPE-MYRTLE. (Named for a Swedish 



naturalist, L<HI< i-xtnun.) 



L. Indica, from E. Indies : planted for ornament S., and in conserva- 

 tories N. : shrub with smooth ovate or oval opposite leaves, and panicles of vcrv 

 showy pale rose or flesh-colored large flowers, remarkable for the wavy-crisped 

 petals and long silky-tufted stamens. 



3. NESJEA. (Name from Greek for insular, from the habitation of the 



original species. ) ^ 



N. verticillata. Common E. and S. in very wet places ; smooth or 

 minutely downy, with long recurving branches (2 -8 long), lanceolate leaves, 

 mo-th in threes, the upper with clustered short-stalked (lowers in their axil-, 

 5 wedge-lanceolate ro-e-purple petals, and 10 stamens of two lengths. 



N. salicii'blia. Cult, from Mexico, not hardy N. ; low, slightly shrubby 

 at base, smooth, erect, with lance-oblong or <>hhmcco]atc leaves, the upper Ones 

 sometimes alternate, almost sessile (lowers in their axils, with mostly C> obovate 

 yellow petals, and 12 stamen> of alino>t equal length. 



4. LYTHRUM, LOOSESTRIFE. (Name in Greek for /-/,/: some have 

 red llo\\ ers.) Fl. summer. 



L. Salicaria, SIMKKD L. Sparingly wild N. E. in wet meadows, and 

 cult. ; with stems 2 -.'5 high, leave- broad-lanceolate, and often with a bean- 

 shaped base, in pairs or threes ; (lower.- crowded in their axils and forming a 

 wand-like spike, rather large, with (i or rarely 7 lance-oblong pink petals, and 

 t \\iee as many stamens of two lengths. 11 



L. alatum. Low grounds \V. > S. : nearly smooth, slender, 2 -3 high, 

 above and on the branches with margined angles, very leafy ; the small leaves 

 oblong, the uppermost not longer than the small flowers in their axils; petals 

 C, purple ; stamens G. 2/ 



5. AMMANNIA. (Named for Aiiniiniin, an early German botanist.) 

 Low, insignilicant herbs, in wet places, especially S., with small greenish 

 flower- in the axils of the narrow leaves ; the inconspicuous petaJs purplish, 

 or none : fl. all summer. 



