236 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [DeC, 



Leaf-blades mostly oblanceolate, long-cuneate at base. Pedicels 

 mostly over 15 mm. long. Corolla -lobes less widely spread- 

 ing. 

 Main stem-leaves 3-4.5 cm. long. Outer sepals 6-8 mm. long. 

 Corolla about 10 mm. long. Plant branched above, usually 

 3-4 dm. tall, erect or nearly so. 



1. M. acuminata. 

 Main stem-leaves 1.3-2 cm. long. Outer sepals 5-6 mm. long. 

 Corolla 7-8 mm. long. Plant much branched from the 

 base, 1-2 dm. tall, diffusely spreading and ascending. 



la. M. acuminata peninsidaris. 

 Leaf -blades ovate, more shortly cuneate at base, 1-1.7 cm. long. 

 Pedicels mostly 8-12 mm. long. Corolla 7-8 mm. long, its 

 lobes relatively widely spreading. Plant apparently laxly 

 ascending. lb. M. acuminata brevifolia. 



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

 sepals ovate, more than four times width of inner. Leaf-blades 

 often ovate, more shortly cuneate at base. Procumbent or 

 ascending. 

 Corolla lemon-yellow, 6 mm. long, glandular-puberulent within. 

 Outer sepals broadly ovate. Pedicels 1-2 times the length 

 of the ovate bracts. 2. M. procumbens. 



Corolla deep lemon -yellow, 7-8 mm. long, short-pubescent within. 

 Outer sepals ovate. Pedicels several times the length of the 

 lanceolate -ovate bracts. 3. M. tenuis. 



1. Mecardonia acuminata (Walt.) Small. 



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

 description evidently of plant here considered. Doubtless from lower 

 South Carolina where this plant is common. 



Gerardia cuneifoUa Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. 422. 1814. "In Georgia. 

 Bartram. v. s. in Herb. Banks." Type not verified. Description appears 

 to be of our plant, but the statement is made that the leaves are alternate 

 above while in acuminata they are opposite throughout. 



Matourea nigrescens Benth., Comp. Bot. Mag. I: 173. 1836. " (Gi-atiola 

 acuminata Ell., non Pursh.)" ex Ell., Sketch Bot. S. C. & Ga. 1 : 15. 

 1816. "Grows in ditches and wet places, extensively diffused." Elliott 

 interpreted correctly the species of Walter, but Pursh had confused with 

 this Gratiola virginiana L. 



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



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

 pineland or deciduous woodland, frequent or common in most por- 

 tions of the Coastal Plain (although absent from such an area as 

 the Altamaha Grit of southern Georgia), extending to Cape Canaveral 

 in southern Florida although through the Everglade Keys mostly 

 replaced by var. peninsularis; and also reaching the mountain val- 

 leys of western North Carolina and northern Georgia. Ranges from 

 Maryland to Florida and eastern Texas, extending inland to west- 

 ern Kentucky, southern Missouri and eastern Oklahoma. 



