Menyanthes. C. GENTIANACEiE. 456 



single largo, terminal, blue flower. Jii. — I understand that this interesting plant 

 has been rediscovered on the Wlutc Mts. by Mr. Abel Storrs. 



9. F HAS Era. Waiter. 



In lionorof John Fmser, uii Amcriciin culUviitor of exotics. 



Flowers mostly tetramorous; petals united at ba.se, oval, spread- 

 ing, deciduous, each with 1 or 2 bearded, orbicular glands in the mid- 

 dle ; style 1 ; stigmas 2, distinct ; capsule compressed, I -celled; seeds 

 few, imbricate, large, elliptic, margined. — % Showy and tallj with oppo- 

 site or verticil late leaves. 



F. Carolinensis. Walt. (F. Walteri. Mr. and \st edit.) Coluviho. 



»S7. tall, erect, glabrous, branched above; Zrs. verticillate, oblong-lanceo- 

 late, acutish, sessile, leather- veined, entire or wavy ; panicle compound, pyra- 

 midal, leaty, verlicillate ; cat. segments acute, shorter than the oblong, obtusish 

 petals; gland solitarv, oval-orbicular. — A tall and showy plant, in moist woods, 

 Western N. Y. to Car. W. to Ohio! la. ! Ky., 111. Stem dark purple, 4— 7— 9f! 

 high, perfectly straight, 1 -2' thick at base. Leaves smooth, subcarnose, 3 — 12' 

 by 1 — 3', ill whorls of 4 — 6, rarely opposite. Branches of the panicle also 

 whorled, spreading-erect. Flowers tetramerous, \\' diam. Petals greenish 

 with blue dots and a large purple gland near the base. June, July. — Highly 

 valued as a tonic. 



Tribe 2. MENYANTHEyE.— ^Estivation of the corolla induplicate. Aquatic 



or marsh herbs. Sheaths of the leaves alternate. 



10. LIMNANTHfiMUM. Gmel. 



Gr. Xi[Jtvri, a lake, av^oi, a flower; from its aquatic habitat 



Calyx 5-parted ; corolla subcampanulate, with a short tube and 

 spreading, 5-lobed limb, deciduous, segments obtuse : stamens 5, alter- 

 nating with 5 glands; capsule 1 -celled, without valves; placentae 

 fleshy, many-seeded. — "A- submersed^ generally in stagnant water. Lvs. 

 Jioating.^ on long petioles. 



L. LACUNOSA. Gmel. (Villarsia. Ph. V. trachysperma. Mr.) Lake-flower. 



Floating; lvs. renilbrm, subpeltate, scabrous above, spongy and lacunose 

 beneath; fls. umbellate, from the summit of the stem (petiole?); cor. smooth; 

 glands from the base of the petals, stipitate ; cal. shorter than the capsule; seeds 

 muricate. — A curious aquatic, in ponds and lakes, N. Y. ! to Car. The stems 

 are 1, 2 or 3f long, according to the depth of the water, bearing at the top three 

 kinds of organs; the summit is prolonged into a petiole bearing a leaf about an 

 inch in diameter, resembling that of Nymphaea ; on the upper side is an umbel 

 of small white flowers, blossoming successively at the surface of the water, and 

 beneath, a cluster of short, simple, tuberous radicles, each of which is capable 

 of producing a new plant. July. 



11. MENYANTHES. Tourn. 



Gr. jtTivri, a month ; av^oi ; in allusion to its supposed properties as an emenajjogue. 



Calyx 5-parted ; corolla funnel-form, limb spreading. 5-lobed, vil- 

 lous within ; stamens 5 ; style 1; stigma bifid ; capsule 1 -celled. 



M. THiFOLi.lTA. Buck Beuii. 



Lvs. trifoliate. — Grows in swamps, margins of ponds, &c., N, Am. N. of 

 •latitude 38°. This fine plant arises from large, black roots descending deep 

 into the boggy earth. Stem 8 — 12' high, round. Leaves on long, round foot- 

 stalks ."^tipuled at base. Leaflets obovate. Peduncle long, naked, terminal, 

 bearing a pyramidal raceme of flesh-colored flowers. Pedicels thick, liracteate 

 at base. Sepals obtu.se, about a third as long as the corolla. Petals acute, 

 about as long as the stamens, remaikablv and beautifully distinguished by the 

 soft, fringe-like hairs at the base and in the throat of the tube. Bitter herbs, 

 actively medicinal, sometimes substituted lor hops. Mav. 

 39 



