180 XIX. CISTACE^. Lechea. 



2. DIONiEA. Ellis. 

 Dionsea is one of the names of Venus. 



Sepals 5, ovate, oWong, spreading ; petals 5, obovate, witli pellucid 

 veins; stamens 10—15; style 1 ; stigmas 5, connivent, many-eleft ; 

 capsules indehiscent, breaking irregularly, 1 -celled, many-seeded. — 

 % glabrous. Lvs. radical, sensitive, closing convulsively when touched. 

 Scape umbellate. 



D. MusciPULA. Ell. Vcnm' riy-trap.—N a,tive of the Southern States. Some- 

 times cultivated in a pot of bog earth placed in a pan of water. Leaves rosu- 

 late, lamina roundish, spinulose on the margins and upper siuface, instantly 

 closing upon insects and other objects which light upon it. (See Part 1. ^ 248.) 

 Scape 6—12' high, with an umbel of 8—10 white flowers. Apr. May. f 



3. PARNASSIA. Tourn. 



Named for Mount Parnassus, the abode of the Muses, Graces, &c. 



Sepals 5, united at base, persistent; petals .5, persistent, nearly 

 perigynous ; stamens perigynous, in 2 series, the outer indefinite in 

 number, united in 5 groups, sterile, the inner 5 perfect ; capsule 1- 

 celled. 4-Yalved ; seeds very numerous, with a winged testa. — % herbs 

 with radical lvs. and \-flowered scajjes. 



1. P. Caroliniana. Gras.'; of Parnassus. 



Sterile filavients in 5 clusters, 3 in each, distinct to near the base, sur- 

 mounted with little spherical heads ; pet. much exceeding the calyx, marked 

 with green veins ; lvs. radical or sessile on the scape, broad-oval, with no sinus 

 at the base. — An exceedingly elegant and interesting plant, growing in wet 

 meadows and borders of streams, U. S. to Can. Root fibrous. Leaves about 

 7-veined, broad-oval or ovate, smooth, leathery, radical ones long-stalked, cau- 

 line ones sessile, clasping, a few inches above the root. Scapes about If high, 

 with a handsome regular flower about 1' diam. Jl. Aug. 



2. P. PALUSTRIS, 



Lvs. all cordate, the cauline one (if any) sessile ; scales (bundles of sterile 

 stamens) smooth, with numerous slender, pellucid setge. — Bogs and lake shores, 

 Mich, to Lab. and W. to the Rocky Mts. Scapes about 6' high, naked or with 

 a single clasping leaf near the base. Flowers white. Sepals oblong-lanceo- 

 late. Petals marked with 3—5 green or purple veins. Each scale is distin- 

 guished by 10—15 whitish hair-like bristles. 



Order XIX. CISTACE^.— Rock Roses. 



Plants herbaceous or shrubby. Branches often viscid. 

 Lrs. entire, opposite or alternate, usually feather-veined. 

 P/s. white, yellow, or red, very fugacious, in one-sided racemes. 

 Col. — Sepals 5, unequal, the 3 inner with a twisted ajstivation. 

 Cor.— Petals 5, hypogynous, crumpled in apstiyation. 

 Sta. indefinite, hypogynous, distinct. Anth. innate. 



Ova. di.stinct, or many-celled. Sty. sinsle. Stig. simple. tceedine from the middle of the valves. 



Fr. capsular, ei'her 1-celled with parietal placentae, or imperfectly 3— 5-celled, with dissepiments pro- 

 Genera 7, species 185, found most abundant in the north of Africa or south of Europe. They possess 

 no interest on account of their properties. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



( large and showy, or wanting Heliantfiemwti. 2 



Petals 5, ( minute. Delicate shrubs Hitdsonia. 3 



Petals 3, linear-lanceolate Lechea. I 



1. LECHEA. 



In memory of John Leche, a Swedish botanist. 



Sepals 5, the 2 outer minute ; petals 3, lanceolate, small ; stamens 

 3 — 12; stigmas 3, scarcely distinct ; capsule 3-celled, S-valved ; pla- 

 centae nearly as broad as the valves, roundish, each 1 — 2-seeded — % 

 Siiffruiicose, branching plants. Stipules 0. 



