74 AMARANTH FAMILY 



the stamens are adherent, or whether the corolla is lack- 

 ing and the tube is nothing but united stamen filaments. 

 It is a perplexing problem until one learns that these 

 flowers have no corolla, and that the papery five-toothed 

 tube, apparently with alternate anthers and petal-lobes, 

 is formed of ten united stamens, five of which are sterile 

 and end in sharp points between the fertile anthers. The 

 dense wool on the outer surface of these flowers is a hin- 

 drance in dissecting them for anal3^sis. The plants are 

 common in dry soil during summer, when the tall stems, 

 reddish and swollen at the joints, bear few leaves and 

 many short spikes, which become woolly or cottony as 

 the seeds ripen. 



Froelichia floridana. Flowers minute, woolly, in compact 

 spikes 1-2 in. long. Stems 2-6 ft. tall. Leaves opposite, 

 narrow, 2-6 in. long, hairy or woolly beneath. Dry soil. 

 Blooming spring to fall. Fla. and Ga. 



Iresine paniculata. This plant is very different in appear- 

 ance from Froelichia, as it bears a great number of minute 

 silvery or greenish flowers in a plume-like inflorescence. 



Flowers minute, many, in panicles. Stems 2-6 ft. tall, 

 ribbed, swollen at joints. Leaves opposite, stalked, 2-6 in. 

 long, broadest near base. Dry soil. Blooming chiefly in 

 summer. Fla. to New Mexico and Ohio. 



Among our other plants of this family are species of 

 Alternanthera, with opposite leaves, and short, compact, 

 greenish white or silvery heads of minute papery flow- 

 ers, and the creeping Lithophila vermicularis, with short 

 fleshy leaves, and similar flowering heads. These grow 

 in sandy soil, chiefly near the coast. Gomphrena dis- 

 persa, of low growth, with similar flowering heads, and 

 somewhat hairy leaves, is becoming a weed through the 

 peninsula. 



Showy amaranths and cockscombs are garden members 

 of the family. 



