EPILOBIACEAE 847 



dnlous. Fruit nut-like, ribbed or angled, indehiscent or nearly so, 1-4-seeded, sessile or 

 often with a pedicel-like base. 



Anthers oval, attached near the middle. 1- <?• parviflora. 



Anthers linear or narrowly oblong, attached near the base. 



Fruit sessile or essentially so, that is, without a pedicel-like base. ^ ^ . j, . 



Petals over 15 mm. long. 2. G. Ltndheimen. 



Petals less than 12 mm. long. 



Fruit ovoid, elliptic, oval-elliptic or obovoid. 



Fruit pubescent : buds puberulent or pubescent. 

 Fruit 6-8 mm. long : buds less than 2 cm. long. 

 Fruit with rounded or obtuse angles. 



Stems hirsute : leaf-blades relatively thin. 

 Stems puberulent or puberulent-canescent : leaf-blades rela- 

 tively thick. 

 Fruit with sharp angles. 



Stem simple or with few ascending branches above : species 



ranging from South Carolina to Florida and Alabama. 

 Stem diffusely much branched : species of the lower Mississippi 

 valley. 

 Fruit 3-4 mm. long : buds over 2 cm. long. 

 Fruit glabrous : buds glabrous or essentially so. 

 Fruit pyramidal. 



Fruit mainly 3-angled, the base and angles rounded. 

 Fruit mainly 4-angled, the base flat, the angles auricled at the base. 

 Fruit contracted into a slender or stout neck-like or pedicel-like base. 



Pedicel-like base of the fruit very stout and short, angled or ribbed, but less 

 so than the body of the fruit. 

 Fruit b-7 mm. long : bracts persistent : sepals slightly longer than the free 



part of the hvpanthium. 

 Fruit 8-11.5 mm. long : bracts caducous : sepals about twice as long as the 

 free part of the hypanthium. 

 Pedicel-like base of the fruit relatively slender and long. 

 Bodv of the fruit 3-4 ram. long, ovoid, pubescent. 

 Body of the fruit 7-10 mm. long, oblong or fusiform, glabrous. 



Fruit-body fusiform, merely angled : leaves finely and inconspicuously 



pubescent. 

 Fruit-body oblong or nearly so, wing-angled : leaves copiously pubescent. 



1. Gaura parviflora Dougl. Stem 6-15 dm. tall, villous-hirsute with whitish hairs : 

 leaf-blades lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate or elliptic, 3.5-10 cm. long, acute or acuminate, 

 repand-dentate, softly pubescent : spikes elongated, many-fiowered : buds glabrous or 

 nearly so: flowers crowded or approximate: petals 2.5-4 mm. long: fruit fusiform, 6-8 

 mm. long, 4-nerved, obtuse between the angles, glabrous or nearly so. 



In dry soil, South Dakota to Oregon, Missouri, Louisiana and Mexico. Spring and summer. 



2. Gaura Lindheimeri Engelm. & Gray. Stem 5-9 dm. tall, strigose, or somewhat 

 hirsute below, more or less branched above : leaf-blades spatulate or oblong to lanceolate, 

 2.5-7 cm. long, or shorter above, acute, sinuate, strigose : spikes several-flpwered : buds 

 pilose : flowers not crowded : petals 17-22 mm. long : fruit oblong or elliptic-oblong, 5-7 

 mm. long, glabrous, with acute angles and 1 -ribbed faces. 



On prairies, Louisiana and Texas. Spring and summer. 



3. Gaura biennis L. Stem 6-15 dm. tall, villous-hirsute : leaf-blades relatively 

 thin, lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate or elliptic, 3-10 cm. long, acute or acuminate at each 

 end, remotely denticulate or merely undulate : spikes slender, often elongated : buds pubes- 

 cent : flowers numerous: corolla white, sometimes turning pink: petals 7-11 mm. long: 

 fruit elliptic to oval-elliptic, 6-10 mm. long, 4-ribbed, more or less hirsute. 



In dry soil, Quebec and Ontario to Minnesota, Georgia and Mississippi. Summer and fall. 



4. Gaura Pitcheri (T. & G. ) Small. Similar to G. bknnu; in habit, but larger and 

 stouter, often copiously branched, merely puberulent or puberulent-canescent : leaf-blades 

 thick, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 4-11 cm. long, remotely denticu- 

 late or almost entire : spikes many-flowered, often elongated : buds puberulent : flowers 

 not densely crowded : corolla pinkish : petals 6-9 mm. long : fruit elliptic to ovoid-elliptic, 

 6-8 mm. long, puberulent. 



On prairies, Iowa to Nebraska and Arkansas. Summer and fall. 



5. Gaura angustifolia Michx. Stem 7-12 dm. tall, simple or sparingly branched 

 above, finely appressed-pubescent : leaves relatively few ; blades spatulate to linear or linear- 

 lanceolate, 1-6 cm. long, acute, sinuate or nearly entire, sparingly pubescent : spikes vir- 

 gate, sometimes greatly elongated : buds finely pubescent to glabrate : petals white or pink, 

 4-7 mm. long : fruit elliptic, 5-9 mm. long, 4-angled or sometimes 5-angled, the faces occa- 

 sionally transverse-wrinkled. 



In dry or sandy soil, North Carolina to Florida and Alabama. Spring to fall. 



6. Gaura filiformis Small. Stem 1-2.5 m. tall, canescent-puberulent, widely and often 

 diffusely branched above, the branches slender or filiform : leaves numerous ; blades linear 



