134 KRAMERIEiE. Kkameria; 



two usually lonjrer, alternate with the lateral unguiculate and the 

 lower or fleshy petals ; and two close together, alternate with the supe- 

 rior and the lateral petals : filaments thick, distinct, or the interme- 

 diate ones united, or (in K. lanceolata) all more or less united : an- 

 thers innate, fleshy, somewhat conical, 2-celled, opening at the apex 

 by a single or douhle pore. Ovary 1- (or incompletely 2-) celled, 

 densely hairy, gibbous : style subulate, ascending : stigma minute : 

 placenta posterior or next the upper petal : ovules 2, pendulous from 

 near the summit of the cell. Fruit between woody and leathery, glo- 

 bose, glochidate, indehiscent, 1-celled, 1-2-seeded. Seed roundish, 

 ovate, anatropous, with a membranous testa : albumen none. Em- 

 bryo straight : cotyledons roundish, plano-convex, fleshy. — Spreading 

 or procumbent under-shrubs, much branched from the base, silky or 

 hirsute with simple hairs : the root astringent and very bitter. Leaves 

 alternate, exstipulate, simple or rarely 3-foliolate, entire. Peduncles 

 terminal and axillary toward the summit of the branches, sometimes 

 more properl}^ racemed, 1-flowered, 2-bracteolate in the middle. 



Hooker and Arnott {hot. Beeckey^s voij. p. 9. t. 5. 1831), in their elaborate account 

 of the structure and affinities of Krameria, have corrected an important error in the 

 character given by St. Hilaire {riiem. mus. 17. t. 31, and 19, p. 336 ; 4- in ji. Bras, 

 merid.; copied also in Lindl. nat. syst. ed. 2. 1836.), wiio describes the three ungui- 

 culate petals, and consequently the sepal accompanying the smaller internal one, as 

 inferior or anterior; the structure according to this view being nearly the same as in 

 Polygalaceas. Hooker and Arnott remark that they are borne out in tlieir view of 

 the position of the parts of the tlower (which supposes an inversion of the com- 

 mon arrangement in Polygalacea; to take place), by Ruiz and Pavon, Jussieu, and 

 Kunth; and their view is fully sustained by the structure of K. lanceolata, although, 

 on account of the twisting of the peduncles, the petals often appear, at first sight,"to 

 be anterior. St. Hilaire is equally mistaken in considering the side of the ovary 

 which is turned away from the ' lower' (that is, according to his view, the ungui- 

 culale) petals as placentiferous: but the affinities suggested by Hooker and Arnott 

 are not borne out by the correction, unless the ovary is proved to be monocarpellary, 

 which is probably not the case. The innermost sepal may either be situated on the 

 left of the exterior upper sepal (as in K. grandiflora figured by St. Hilaire ; the 

 flower being brought into its true position), or more commonly on the right : in 

 K. lanceolata we find this sepal sometimes dextral and sometimes sinistral. 



2. KRAMERIA. Lceji. ; Rxiiz f Pav. prodr. fl. Per. ^ Chil. t. 3 ; .4. St. 

 Hil. I. c. 19. p. 336 ; Hook. ^ Am. hot. Beechey's voy. p. 8. 



Character same as of the Suborder. 



1. K. lanceolata (Torr.): branches mostly procumbent, many-flowered; 

 lower cauline leaves oblong-lanceolate or obovate-lanceolate ; the others nar- 

 rowly linear ; peduncles hibracteate above the middle, longer than the leaves ; 

 sepals 5, nearly equal ; unguiculate petals 3, the claws united their whole 

 length; stamens 4; filaments monadelphous. — Torr.! in ann. lye. New- 

 York, 2. p. 168. 

 .In sandy soil on the upper part of the Arkansas or the Canadian, Dr. 

 James! Prairies west of Fort ^Towson, Dr. Leavemcorth ! Texas, 

 Drummo7ul ! Tampa Bay, E. Florida, in pine woods, Dr. Bin-rows ! 

 and Dr. Leavenworth! May. — Canescently hirsute. Stems numerous; 

 branches slender, often a foot or more long. • Lower cauhne leaves about f 

 of an inch long, and 2 lines broad, sometimes obtuse ; those of the branches 

 usually longer. Peduncles on the prostrate branches secund, often twice the 

 length of the leaves, forming as it were loose leafy racemes. Sepals purple 



