LYTHRACE5;. ISO 



emblem of civic authority. The flowers are white, appearing in July and 

 Auoust. Cvmmon Mijrlle. 



2. PU'NICA. 

 Caljx 5-cleft, superior ; petals 5 ; berry many-celled, many- 

 seeded ; seeds berried ; placenta parietal. 



The ■pomegranate was anciently called Malum Punicum, Cartbagenian ap- 

 ple, because^says Pliny, it was first known to grow there. 



P. grana'tum. 



Leaves lanceolate; stem arborescent. This is a thorny bush when wild, 

 from S. Europe, where it is sometimes used for hedges like the hawthorn. 

 The leaves are lanceolate, entire, smooth. The flowers are scarlet, large, and 

 make a fine appearance. The fruit is large, highly ornamental and of a fine 

 flavor. Much care is requisite for its cultivation. It requires a rich loam, a 

 sunny situation, protected by glass. In this way double flowers of great 

 beauty may be produced. 



ORDER Lll. MELASTOMACE^. 



Ca?.— Sepals 4—6, tinited, persistent, the tube urceolate, cohering with only the angle.? of 

 Cbr.— Petals as many as the segments of the calyx, twisted In sEstivation. [the ovar>'- 



Sta.— Twice as many as the petals, sometimes of the same number, the filaments inflexed in 

 4itt</i.— Before flowering contained in the cavity between the caL and the sides of ova. [sest. 

 Fr, — Capsular or baccate. 



A family represented in the Northern States by a single species. The remainder of it is 

 chiefly native in India and tropical America, where more than 000 species are found. No 

 plant of this order is poisonous. All are slightly astringent. 



RHE'XIA. 



Calyx 4-cleft, swelling at the base; petals 4; anthers S, 

 style declined; capsule 4-celled, invested by the calyx ; pla- 

 centae prominent; seeds numerou?. 



Gr. Q^i^i, a rupture; the plant being considered good for healing wounds. 

 Herbs, &c. Leaves opposite, exstipulate. 



R. Virgi'nica. 



Stem with 4 winged angles ; leaves sessile, ovate-lanceolate, ciliate-serrate ; 

 corymbs dichotomous. Stem square, the angles winged, a foot or more high, 

 with 3-nerved, closely sessile leaves, covered with scattered hairs. Flowers 

 large, axillary and terminal. Petals bright purple, caducous, obovate, hispid 

 beneath. Anthers long and prominent, crooked, of a golden yellow above and 

 a purple line beneath. Style somewhat longer than the stamens, declined. 

 Grows in wet grounds; rare. Ji. Aug. Per. Meadow Beauty. Deer-grass. 



ORDER LIIl. LYTHRACEiE. 



Col. — Tnh\ilar, the limb 4 — 7-lobodj sometimes with as many intermediate teeth. 

 (Xir. — Petals in.scrled into tlie calyx between the lobes, very deciduous, or 0. 

 ii'/a.— Kqual in aunxber to the petals or 2 — 4 limes as many, inserted into the calyx. 



