826 LYTHRACEAE 



14. Rhexia parviflora Chapm. Stems 1-3 dm. tall, pubescent: leaf -blades 

 oblong, elliptic or nearly oval, 1-2 cm. long: sepals triangular-lanceolate: petals white, 

 less than 10 mm. long: capsules about 3 mm. long. 



In shallow ponds, Apalacliicola, Florida. Summer. 



2. TETRAZYGIA L. C. Eich. 



Shrubs or trees. Leaf-blades 3-5-ribbed, mostly scurfy or tomentose beneath. 

 Sepals and petals, 4 or 5. Ovary 4- or-5-celled. Berry included. 



1. Tetrazygla bicolor (Mill.) Cogn. Shrub or small tree, with scaly bark: leaf- 

 blades lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 8-20 cm. long, silvery beneath, stout-petioled: 

 panicle 1-2 dm. long: calyx about 1 mm. long: petals white, cuneate, 7-8 mm. long: 

 anthers lanceolate, 5-6 mm. long: berries purple or black, the body 8-10 mm. long. 

 In pine lands and hammocks, southern peninsular Florida. Also in the West Indies. 



Family 2. LYTHRACEAE Lindl. Loosestrife Family. 



Herbs, shrubs or tropical trees. Leaves mostly opposite: blades usually 

 entire. Flowers perfect. Calyx of 4 or 5 sepals, commonly accompanied by 

 accessory teeth. Corolla of 4 or 5 petals, or wanting. Androecium of few or 

 many stamens: anthers versatile. Gynoecium of 2-6 united carpels. Ovary 

 2-6-celled, or rarely 1-celled, free from the hypantbium. Fruit a capsule, in- 

 cluded in the hypantbium. 



Hypantbium campanulate or turbinate, becoming hemispheric or globose. 

 Herbs. 



Flowers inconspicuous. 



Petals wanting: capsules indehiscent. 1. Didiplis. 



Petals 4, except in Ammannia latifolia: capsules dehiscent, sometimes 

 irregularly so. 

 Capsules bursting irregularly. 2. Ammannia. 



Capsules septicidally dehiscent. 3. Rotala. 



Flowers conspicuous. 4. Heimia. 



Shrubs or trees. 



Flowers in axillary cymes: aquatic shrubs. 5. Decodon. 



Flowers in terminal panicles: terrestrial shrubs or trees. 6. Lagerstroemia. 



Hypantbium elongated, cylindric or tubular. 



Flowers regular- hypantbium symmetrical. 7. Lythrum. 



Flowers irregular: hypantbium oblique. 8. Parsonsia. 



1. DIDIPLIS Eaf. 

 Maccid herbs, resembling Callitriche. Leaf -blades narrow, entire, pellucid. Flow- 

 ers solitary in the axils. Sepals 4, without accessory teeth. Petals wanting. Stamens 

 2-4. Style very short; stigma 2-lobed. Embryo with narrow cotyledons. 



1. Didiplis didndra (Nutt.) Wood. Stems 1-3 dm. long: emersed leaves with 

 linear to linear-spatulate blades, thicker than the submersed ones, 1-2 cm. long: 

 capsule urceolate, about 1 mm. in diameter. 



In ponds or on wet shores, Minnesota to North Carolina, Florida, Texas and Mexico. 

 Spring to fall. Water Pueslane. 



2. AMMANNIA L. 



Leathery-succulent herbs. Leaf-blades, narrow, often auricled at the base. 

 Flowers in axillary, sometimes 1-flowered, cymes. Sepals 4, often accompanied with 

 small teeth. Petals 4, early deciduous, or wanting. Stamens 4-8-. Style filiform, 

 sometimes short: stigma capitate. Embryo with auricled cotyledons. 



Flowers or capsules sessile or nearly so. 

 Corolla present. 



Leaves broadest above the middle: capsules 5-6 mm. in diameter. 1. A. Koehnei. 



Leaves broadest below the middle: capsules 3-4 mm. in diameter. 2. A. coccinea. 



Corolla wanting. 3. A. latifolia. 



Flowers or capsules in long-peduncled cymes. 4, A. auriculala. 



1. Ammannia Koehnei Britton. Plants 1-6 dm. tall: leaf -blades spatulate, 

 oblanceolate or oblong, 2-8 cm. long, those of the lower ones merely sessile: petals 

 spatulate: stamens and short style included: capsules 5-6 mm. in diameter. 

 In swamps and along streams. New Jersey to Florida. Summer and fall. 



