8. Bartonia Muhl. 



Plants annual or biennial, herbaceous; stem filiform, often somewhat spiraled 

 or twining, mostly green or yellowish; leaves reduced to subulate scales; inflores- 

 cence a terminal panicle or raceme of small white to yellowish or purplish 

 4-merous flowers; calyx cleft to or near the base; corolla campanulate, the lobes 

 about equaling the tube, imbricate in bud; stamens short, inserted at the sinuses 

 of the corolla; anthers oval; style very short and stout; capsule thick-cylindric, 

 flattened, 2-valved; seeds numerous. 



Four species confined to the eastern half of North America. 



1. Flowering in early spring (February and March); corolla 5-10 mm. long 



1. B. verna. 



1. Flowering in late summer and fall (August to October); corolla 5 mm. long 



or less (2) 



2(1). Calyx about 3 mm. long; corolla about 5 mm. long, the lobes lanceolate 

 and tapering to an acute to acuminate apex; capsule shorter than 

 the corolla, the style about 1.5 mm. long 2. B. paniculata. 



2. Calyx 1.5-2 mm. long; corolla about 2.5 mm. long, the lobes elliptic and 



obtuse to obtuse-apiculate; capsule usually exceeding the corolla, 

 the style about 0.5 mm. long 3. B. texana. 



1. Bartonia verna (Michx.) Muhl. 



Stems erect, purplish to rarely yellowish, 5-20 cm. high; leaves opposite 

 or subopposite. reduced to scales 1-3 mm. long; flowers solitary, racemose or 

 sometimes paniculate on robust plants; pedicels 5-20 mm. long, rarely more; sepals 

 triangular-acute, 2-3 mm. long; corolla white, rotate; petals oblanceolate to 

 obovate, obtuse, entire, 5-10 mm. long, 1.5-4 mm. wide; stamens about half as 

 long as corolla, ascending; pistil two thirds as long as corolla; capsule 3-7 mm. 

 long. 



In pitcher plant bogs and low savannahs in s.e. Tex. (Tyler Co.), Feb.-Mar.; 

 from N.C. s. to Fla. and w. to Tex. 



2. Bartonia paniculata (Michx.) Muhl. Screw-stem. Fig. 630. 



Plant glabrous, to about 4 dm. high, with an erect or somewhat twining or 

 flexuous stem; leaves scalelike, alternate or sometimes opposite below; inflores- 

 cence usually a short-branched panicle, elongate; pedicels slender, ascending 

 or divergent, about 1 cm. long; flowers to about 5 mm. long; sepals lanceolate, 

 subacuminate, 2-3 mm. long; petals lanceolate, creamy-white, long-acuminate; 

 capsule ellipsoid, usually much shorter than the corolla, the persistent style about 

 1.5 mm. long. 



In sandy bogs and meadows in e. Tex., reported (but not seen) from LeFlore 

 Co., Okla., Aug.-Sept.; mostly along the coast from N.3. and N. J., s. to Fla., 

 Okla. and Tex. 



3. Bartonia texana Correll. Fig. 630. 



Plant inconspicuous, glabrous, to 3 dm. high; stem slender, usually rigidly 

 erect; leaves scalelike, alternate or rarely subopposite, about 1 mm. long; flowers 

 in a slender lax raceme or panicle; pedicels slender, ascending, to 15 mm. long; 

 calyx 1.5-2 mm. long, the lobes triangular-lanceolate and acute; corolla whitish, 

 about 2.5 mm. long, the lobes elliptic and obtuse to obtuse-apiculate; stamens in 

 sinus of petals; capsule ellipsoidal-subquadrate, usually exceeding the corolla, 

 dehiscent at apex by separation of the style, the persistent style about 0.5 mm. 

 long. 



On sphagnum moss along wooded stream in Tyler Co., s.e. Tex., Sept.-Oct.; 

 endemic. 



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