46 RUBIACE^. POLTPREMUM. 



throat bearded ; the lobes of the 4-parted Hmb sliglitly unequal, oval. Sta- 

 mens 4, inserted into the tube of the corolla towards the base, included: an- 

 thers subglobose. Ovary coherent merely with the base of the calyx, 2- 

 celled : style extremely short : sligma ovoid (large), entire. Capsule ovoid, 

 shorter than the persistent calyx, slightly compressed and didymous, 2-celled, 

 2-valved, loculicidal : placentas oblong, ascending from near the base of the 

 dissepiment, many-seeded. Seeds minute, angled, diaphanous. " Embryo 

 straight, in the axis of fleshy albumen." Gtertn. — A glabrous dichotomously 

 much branched and diffuse annual herb, rather rigid ; with opposite subulate- 

 linear leaves, connected on each side by an obscure stipular membrane. 

 Flowers small and inconspicuous, solitary and sessile in each fork of the 

 branches, and terminal, subtended by one or two pairs of subulate bracts. 

 Corolla white. 



P. procumhens (Linn. 1. c.) — Pursh, fi. 1. p. 99; Ell. sJc. 1. j^- 200; 

 DC. ! I. c. P. Linnaii, Michx. ! fl. 1. p. 83. 



Dry fields and pastures, Virginia ! to Florida ! Key West ! and Louisi- 

 ana ! May-Sept. — Stems numerous, procumbent or somewhat erect, 6-12 

 inches long ; the angles minutely scabrous. Leaves about an inch long, 

 very minutely serrulate-scabrous on the margins, often fascicled in the axils. 

 Bracts similar to the upper leaves. Sepals with a green and rigid midrib 

 and subulate point, the border broad and scarious. Throat of the corolla 

 densely bearded : the 2 upper ? lobes slightly shorter, and perhaps a little 

 divergent from the lower. Stamens equal. Capsule between crustaceous 

 and coriaceous ; the placentte oblong, nearly the length of the cells, covered 

 throughout with the very numerous seeds. 



OiiDER LXXIV. VALERIANACE.E. DC. 



Tube of the calyx adherent to the ovary ; the limb various, some- 

 times forming a plumose pappus, occasionally obsolete. Corolla tubu- 

 lar-infundibuliform or obconical, often gibbous anteriorly or spurred ; 

 the limb mostly 5-lobed, imbricate in aestivation. Stamens distinct, 

 inserted into the corolla, sometimes 5, more frequently 3 or 4 (the pos- 

 terior only, or this and one of the lateral ones being suppressed), 

 rarely 2 or reduced to a single one (the posterior) : anthers introrse. 

 Ovary mostly 3-cclled, two of the cells empty, the third containing a 

 solitary suspended ovule : style filiform : stigmas 2-3, or united into 

 one. Fruit membranaceous or coriaceous, indehiscent, 1 -celled, or 

 frequently 3-celled with 2 of the cells empty, sometimes 2-celled by 

 the confluence of the empty cells, 1 -seeded. Seed anatropous, with a 

 membranaceous testa, destitute of albumen. — Herbs or sometimes 

 shrubs ; the perennial species with thick and odorous roots or rhizomas. 

 Leaves opposite, exstipulate, simple or divided. Flowers in dichoto- 

 mous cymes, at first often glomerate, frequently corymbose or panicu- 

 late. Corolla white, rose-color, or blue, rarely purple or yellow. 



