VKRBENACEiE. 268 VERBENA. 



23. MELAMTY'RUM. 



Calyx 4-clert; upper lip of the corolla compressed, the 



margin folded back; lower lip grooved, trifid ; capsvile2-celled, 



oblique, opening laterally, cells 2-seeded ; seeds cylandric- 



oblong, smooth. 



Gr. jK.£Xa«, black, and TfVQoi, wheat; the grain resembles the wheat in 

 foim, but gives a singularly black color to the bread in which it is mixed. 

 Herbs with opposite leaves. Fls in a terminal, leafy raceme. Cor. ringent, 

 tube recurved. Caps, with the dissepiment contrary. Seeds cartilaginous. 



M. America'num. 



Leaves linear and lanceolate, the upper ones toothed at base ; floiccrs axilla- 

 ry, distinct. Inliabits woods. Stem with opposite branches, 8 — 10 inches 

 liioh, round, erect. Leaves opposite, sessile, lanceolate, the floral ones broader 

 with setaceous teeth at base and tapering to an obtuse point. Flowers in the^ 

 axils of the upper leaves, yellowish, slender, the coiolla twice the length ot 

 the calyx. Capsules acute, declined, 4-seeded. Jl. Ann. Cow Wheat . 



ORDER XClll. VERBENACEyE. ThtVewainTriU. 



Cal. — Tubular, 4 — 5-toothecl, inferior, persistent. 



Cor.— Tubular, the limb bilabiate or irregularly 4— 5-cleft, deciduous. 



Sta. — 4, didynamous, seldom equal, occasionally only 2. 



Ova. — 2 — 4-celled ; ovules erect or pendulous, solitary' or twin. Scyle 1. 



i7';.._Drupaceous, baccate or dry, dividing into 2 or 4 1-seeded portions. 



Sd^. — With little or no albumen. 



Herbs, shrubs or trees, the former chiefly natives ot" temperate regions and the latter ol 

 the tropics, where they are in some instances very large. The teak-wood (Tectona 

 grandis), native of India, justly styled the " Oak of the East," is a timber tree of immense 

 size and great durability, often uitainiug the hight of 100 feet. The wood contains silex. 

 The medicinal properties of the tribe are little known or unimportant. 



Genera- 



Corolla funnel-form, limb 5-cleft, subequal Vtrherm.. 1 



Corolla bilabiate, upper lip smaller, emarginate. Pkryma. 2 



1 . V E R B E' N A . 



Calyx 5-toothed, with one of the teeth often truncate ; 

 corolla funnel form, limb Scleft, nearly equal; stamens 4 

 (rarely but 2); seeds 2—4, enclosed in a thin evanescent 

 pericarp. 



The name in Celtic is fcrfaen, to remove stone ; hence Eng. vervain and 

 Lat. verbena. Herbs witii opposite leaves. Fls. mostly spicate. Cor. tube 

 twice as long as the cal. Fil. very short, incurved within the tube. 



1. V. hasta'ta. 



Erect ; leaves lanceolate, acuminate, incisely serrate, petiolate, the lower 

 oneslobedor hastate; sjyikes erect, filiform, panicled ; Jfojwrs tetrandrous. 

 An erect, tall and elegant plant frequent by road sides and in low grounds. 

 Stem 3—4 feet high, with pauiculate, opposite branches above. Leaves rough 

 in appearance, and to tlie toucli, opposite, long pointed, finely serrate, the 

 lower ones often somewhat hastate Flowers small, blue, arranged in long, 

 close, imbricated spikes, wiiich are sotnewhat fascicled at the summit of the 

 stem, erect and parallel to each other. Seeds 4. Jl.— Sept. Per. Blue Vervain. 



