1114 RUBIACEAE 



16. MITCHELLA L. 



Perennial evergreen herbs, with creeping stems. Leaves opposite : blades flat, entire ; 

 stipules minute. Flowers perfect, dimorphous, 2 together on axillary or terminal pe- 

 duncles. Sepals 4 or sometimes 3-6. Corolla white or pink, funnelform ; lobes mostly 4, 

 spreading or recurved, pubescent within. Stamens as many as the corolla4obes : filaments 

 short and united. Ovary 4-celled : styles elongated and exserted or short and included. 

 Stigmas 4, slender. Ovule solitary in each cavity, erect, anatropous. Fruit of 2 united 

 drupelets, containing usually 8 nutlets. Testa firm. Endosperm cartilaginous. 



1. Mitchella ripens L. Foliage glabrous or nearly so. Stems prostrate or creeping, 

 1-4 dm. long, usually forming mats : leaf-blades thickish, ovate to suborbicular or some- 

 times elliptic, 8-30 mm. long, usually truncate or subcordate at the base ; petioles i as 

 long as the blades or shorter : peduncles 1-5 mm. long : sepals much shorter than the 

 hypanthium : corolla white or pinkish, 10-13 mm. long ; tube dilated above the middle ; 

 lobes ovate or oblong, spreading or slightly recurved : fruit suborbicular, 7-10 mm. in 

 diameter, bright red or white, somewhat aromatic. 



In woods, Nova Scotia to Minnesota, Florida and Texas. Spring to fall. Partridge-berry. 



TWIX-BERRY. 



17. MORINDA L. 



Shrubs or trees, with upright or climbing stems. Leaves opposite or rarely whorled 

 in 3's : blades membranous. Flowers mostly perfect, in axillary or terminal peduncled 

 clusters. Flowers aggregated and coalescent into a head. Calyx a truncate or shallowly 

 toothed, persistent border. Corolla white or crimson, funnelform or salverform : lobes 5 

 or rarely 4-7, valvate, leathery. Stamens 5 or rarely 4-7 : filaments short, adnate to the 

 throat of the corolla. Ovary 2-celled or imperfectly 4-celled : styles united, sometimes 

 pubescent : stigmas slender. Ovules solitary in each cavity. Fruit a syncarp. Seeds 

 obovoid or reniform. Testa membranous. Endosperm fleshy. 



1. Morinda Roioc L. A branching shrub, with prostrate, or somewhat climbing 

 stems, the foliage glabrous or nearly so. Leaf-blades oblong to cuneate, 5-10 cm. long, 

 abruptly pointed, undulate, thinnish, short-petioled : flowers aggregated into a dense sessile 

 or short-peduncled head : corolla crimson, 6-8 mm. long ; tube gradually dilated ; lobes 

 oblong to oblong-lanceolate, shorter than the tube : fruit of 2-4 1 -seeded carpels united 

 into a fleshy head. 



On or near the coast, peninsular Florida and the Keys. Also in the West Indies. 



18. RICHARDIA L. 



Annual or perennial herbs, with pubescent foliage and terete stems. Leaves opposite : 

 blades flat, entire : stipules fringed. Flowers mostly perfect, in terminal involucrate 

 clusters. Hypanthium turbinate to subglobose. Sepals 4-8, more or less persistent. 

 Corolla white or pink, funnelform, glabrous in the throat : lobes 3-5, valvate. Stamens 

 adnate to the throat of the corolla-tube. Disk inconspicuous. Ovary 3-4-celled : styles 

 united, filiform : stigmas 3-4. Ovule solitary in each cavity, amphitropous. Fruit of 3-4 

 carpels, crowned with the sepals. Seeds 2-grooved on the lower face. Endosperm horny. 



Annual : mature carpels oblong, 3-3.5 mm. long : corolla 3-4 mm. long. 1. R. scabra. 



Perennial : mature carpels obovoid, 2-2.5 mm. long : corolla 4-6 mm. long. 2. R. Brasiliensis. 



1. Richardla scabra St. Hil. Annual. Stems sparingly branched and erect, or 

 copiously branched and diffusely spreading, 1-4 dm. long: leaf-blades oblong or elliptic 

 to lanceolate or ovate, 2-8 cm. long, acute or somewhat acuminate, undulate, narrowed 

 into short margined petioles or nearly sessile : clusters depressed : involucre of 2 unequal 

 pairs of bracts : sepals lanceolate or oVate4anceolate, 1-1.5 mm. long, about as long as the 

 hypanthium : corolla 4-6 mm. long : tube funnelform ; lobes 6, triangular or triangular- 

 lanceolate, more or less ciliate, nmch shorter than the tube. 



In sandy soil, South Carolina to Florida, Texas, Mexico and South America. Introduced from 

 tropical America. 



2. Richardia Brasiliensis (Moq.) Gomez. Perennial. Stems more or less diffusely 

 branched from the base, the branches spreading or prostrate, 1-4 dm. long: leaf-blades 

 elliptic or oblong, 1.5-4 cm. long, acute or somewhat acuminate at both ends, entire, short- 

 petioled : clusters dense, closely sessile : sepals ovate or oblong-ovate, about 1 mm. long : 



