468 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Part III 



Corolla white, its posterior lobes united |-| their length. Outer 

 sepals lanceolate, rarely more than twice width of inner. Leaf- 

 blades prevailingly lanceolate, conspicuously cuneate at base. 

 Erect or somewhat diffuse. 1. M. acuminata. 



Corolla yellow, its posterior lobes united nearly to apex. Outer 

 sepals narrowly ovate to ovate, more than three times width 

 of inner. Leaf -blades prevailingly ovate or oval, more shortly 

 cuneate at base. Procumbent or ascending. 



2. M. peduncular is. 



I. Mecardonia acuminata (Walt.) Small. 



Gratiola acuminata Walt., Fl. Carol. 61. 1788. Type not verified, but de- 

 scription evidently of plant here considered. Doubtless from lower South 

 Carolina where this plant is common. 



Pagesia leucantha Raf., Fl. Ludov. 49. 1817. "Chelone 2. Rob. p. 406. " In 

 Robin, Voy. Louisiane . . .3: 406. 1807, is a description unmistak- 

 ably of the plant here considered. Robin even mentions two little leaf- 

 lets in each leafaxil, by which are evidently denoted the bractlets sub- 

 tending the base of the pedicel, the presence of which has been general- 

 ly overlooked. Type of genus Pagesia Raf., 1. c. 48. 



Gratiola rigida Raf., Atl. Jour. 1: 176. 1833. "Texas (or) Arkanzas, in my 

 Herbarium." Type not known to exist. Description can apply to only 

 this species, the rigid stems, leaf-outline, and narrow calyx-lobes with 

 the superior one broader, being distinctive. 



Mecardonia acuminata (Walt.) Small, Fl. S. E. Un. St. 1065, 1337. 1903. 



Corolla white, within with longitudinal pink veins on the pos- 

 terior side. Flowering from May to September, and soon ripen- 

 ing fruit. 



Moist sandy loam, or heavier loam soil, usually near streams, 

 in pineland or deciduous woodland, frequent or common through 

 the Coastal Plain of eastern Arkansas, Louisiana and eastern Texas 

 (probably absent from the Mississippi bottom-land) ; also inland, 

 probably along sandy river- and creek-beds to eastern Oklahoma. 

 Ranges from Maryland to Florida and Texas, extending inland 

 to western Kentucky, southern Missouri and eastern Oklahoma. 



Arkansas. Hot Spring: Eggert(Y). Jefferson Springs, Pennell 

 10662 (Y). Miller: Texarkana, Letterman (Y). Nevada: Pres- 

 cott, Letterman (U). Pulaski: Little Rock, Hasse (Y). 



Oklahoma. Creek: Sapulpa, Bush 407 (U, Y). 



Louisiana. Caddo: Shreveport, Gregg (A). Calcasieu: De- 

 Quincy, Pennell 10229 (Y). West Carroll: , Moseley (U). 



Texas. Bowie: Texarkana, Heller 4170 (A, U, Y). Brazoria: 

 Columbia, Bush 1413 (A, Y). Harris: Harrisburg (U); Hous- 

 ton, Fisher 1744 (U). 



