LYTHRACEjE. 



LYTHRUM. 



Calyx cylindrical, striated, with 4-6 broad teeth, and the 

 same number of alternate smaller subulate diverging ones. 

 Petals 4-6, alternate witb the erect teeth of the calyx. Sta- 

 mens in the middle or at the base of the calyx, twice as nume- 

 rous as the petals or equal to them in number, or even fewer. 

 Style filiform. Stigma capitate. Capsule oblong, enclosed in 

 the calyx, 2-celled, many-seeded. Placentae thick, adhering to 

 the dissepiment. — Leaves entire. Flowers purple or white. 



296. L. Salicaria Linn, sp.pl. 640. EB. t. 1061. Fl. Lond. 

 t. 28. DC. prodr. iii. 82. S. and C. iii. t. 146. — Ditches and 

 wet places in Europe, the West of Asia, New Holland, and 

 North America. 



Root woody, branching at the crown. Stems from 2 to 4 feet high, 

 erect, acutely quadrangular, either smooth or downy, leafy, generally 

 simple. Leaves nearly sessile, lanceolate, acute, entire, various in 

 length, the upper ones diminished to bracteas ; all mostly opposite ; but 

 there are occasionally 3, or even 4, in each whorl ; in which cases the 

 number of angles in the stem is likewise increased. Flowers in numer- 

 ous axillary whorls, 6 in each, of a variable crimson or purple, compos- 

 ing long leafy spikes. Six of the calyx-teeth are long and reddish; the 

 others minute. Anthers conspicuous, red, with green or yellow pollen. 

 Capsules elliptical, small. The herbage, generally almost smooth and 

 of a dark green, becomes in dry situations hoary and downy, or in 

 some degree hairy, as well as more dwarf in stature. Smith. — An astrin- 

 gent, which has been recommended in inveterate cases of diarrhcea. 



150 



