obtuse, 2-4 mm. long: corolla whitish or pale-violet, sometimes marked with 

 purple and yellow, somewhat bilabiate with the 5 lobes subequal, 1-2 cm. broad; 

 corolla spur subulate, about 3 mm. long, usually shorter than the saclike base of 

 the corolla, the palate (in ours) subulate or clavate, included in the tube; capsule 

 2- to 4-valved. 



In seepage and wet soils of savannahs and low pinelands on the Coastal Plain 

 in s.e. Tex., Mar.-June; from Fla. to Tex. and S.C; also Bah. I. 



Fam. 122. Acanthaceae Juss. Acanthus Family 



Herbs or small shrubs, usually with cystoliths appearing as minute short lines 

 on the vegetative parts; leaves simple, usually entire, opposite or sometimes 

 alternate or subopposite; flowers irregular to nearly regular, perfect; calyx persis- 

 tent, inferior, the segments 5 or occasionally fewer; corolla gamopetalous, the 

 limb 5-lobed or 2-lipped (rarely 1-lipped); stamens 4, didynamous or 2 only; 

 staminodes often present in the 2-stamened flowers; anther sacs 2 or 1, longi- 

 tudinally dehiscent; ovary 2-celled, the ovules 2 to 10 in each cavity; style filiform, 

 simple; stigmas 1 or 2; fruit a capsule, 2 celled, 2-valved; seeds usually flat, borne 

 on funicles which are papilliform in a few genera but usually hook-shaped, the 

 testa smooth or roughened, often mucilaginous when moistened. 



A large pantropical family of about 2,500 species in 250 genera. 



1. Corolla lobes contorted (convolute) at aestivation; stamens 4 (2) 



1. Corolla lobes imbricate (3) 



2(1). Corolla deeply bilabiate; flowers in axillary fascicles; capsule terete and 

 2-celled to the very base 1. Hygrophila 



2. Corolla scarcely or not at all bilabiate, the 5 broad lobes rounded and spread- 



ing 2. Ruellia 



3(1). Placenta separating from the capsule wall at maturity; corolla with narrow 



cylindric tube; anther cells usually rounded at base 



3. Dicliptera 



3. Placenta not separating; corolla with short non-cylindric tube (4) 



4(3). Corolla subequally 4-lobed; anther cells muticous or rarely mucronate at 

 base 4. Yeatesia 



4. Corolla deeply bilabiate; lower anther cell mucronate or calloused at base 



5. Justicia 



1. Hygrophila R. Br. 



The genus is cosmopolitan. Of the numerous species described, only about 80 

 are now considered as valid. 



1. Hygrophila lacustris (Schlecht. & Cham.) Nees. Fig. 718. 



Herb to 8 dm. high, sparingly hirtellous to glabrate; stems obtusely quad- 

 rangular, branching; leaves lanceolate, 5-12 cm. long, 5-25 mm. wide, acute at 

 apex, entire; flowers sessile, clustered in the axils; bracts linear; calyx segments 5, 

 lanceolate, about 5 mm. long, white-margined, pilose; corolla yellow, puberulent, 

 the cylindric tube 5 mm. long, the bidentate upper lip 2.5 mm. long, the lower lip 

 3-lobed: stamens 4, didynamous or 2 perfect stamens and 2 staminodes, the 

 filaments of each pair united at base by a membrane; anthers 2-celled, muticous 

 or mucronulate; posterior stigma lobe abortive; capsules narrowly oblong, 8-12 

 mm. long, glabrous, 16- to 18-seeded. 



In marshy regions along streams, swamps or on shores of ponds in s.e. Tex. 

 where its rhizomes form colonies, June-Sept.; from Fla. to Tex. 



1525 



