148 DROSERACE^. ParnassU. 



obovate, smooth and shining, black, marked witli an inconspicuous raphe. 

 Embryo oblong, at the base of the cartilaginous albumen. — '' The sensitive- 

 ness of the lamina," according to Mr. Curtis, " resides only in the '3 or 4 

 hair-Uke processes of its upper surface, so placed that an insect can hardly 

 traverse it M^ithout interfering with one of them ; when the two sides sud- 

 denly collapse and enclose the prey, the fringe or hairs of the opposite sides 

 of the leaf interlacing like the fingers of the two hands clasped together." 

 See the further remarks of Mr. Curtis in loc- cit. 



Suborder PARNASSIE^. Am. (excl. Dion^a.) 



Sepals 5, persistent, imbricated in aestivation ; more or less united 

 at the base and coherent with the base of the ovary. Petals 5, some- 

 what perigynous, persistent, alternate with the petals: venation sim- 

 ple. Stamens, perigynous, persistent, consisting of an outer sterile se- 

 ries, somewhat indefinite in number, united in 5 phalanges situated 

 opposite the petals ; and an inner series of 5 fertile stamens alter- 

 nating with the petals' : anthers fi.xed by the base, introrse. Ovary com- 

 posed of 4 united camels, l-celled, with 4 sessile stigmas opposite the 

 parietal placentae. Capsule 1-celIed, 4-valved, loculicidal. Seeds very 

 numerous, anatropous, with an arilliform winged testa : albumen none. 

 Embryo straight, with a slender radicle and minute cotyledons. — Gla- 

 brous perennial herbs (growing in wet places.) Leaves mostly radical 

 or nearly so, petioled, exstipulate, entire, with obscure converging 

 veins. Scapes elongated, 1 -flowered : flower white. 



This suborder, as characterized above, includes the anomalous genus Parnassia 

 alone ; which was placed by Jussieu, along with Diosera and Reseda, among " Ge- 

 nera Capparidibus affinia;" and is referred to Droseracese by Richard, De Candolle, 

 and (as & suborder) by Arnott- to Saxifragacese (with which they agree very well, 

 except in the completely syncarpous ovary and the position of the stigmas,) by 

 Brown and Liiidley ; to Hypericaceffi by Don ; and (with a mark of doubt) to Tama- 

 riscineae by Bartling. The curious scale-like organs terminating in three or more 

 threads or seta with glandular lips, are doubtless transformed stamens ; but their 

 situation {opposite the petals and exterior to the fertile stamens) as well as their 

 structure renders it evident that they are not composed each of a single stamen, as 

 has been stated, but of 3 or more, as we have described them. That they are so 

 considered by Don, is manifest from the view he takes of the affinity of the genus, 

 although the work which contains his remarks is not at this moment before us. 



3. PARNASSIA. Tourn. inst. t. 127 ; Linn. ; Gcertn. fr. t. 60. 

 Character same as of the Suborder. 



^'^1. P. patusiris CLinn.): scales [phalanges of sterile stamens] with nu- 

 ''merous (9-13) very slender setae ; leaves all cordate, the cauhne one [when 

 present] sessile. Hook.-^Fl. Dan. t. 584; DC prodr. 1. p. 320 ; Richards. ! 

 app. Frankl. joiirn. p. 10 ; Hook. ! fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 82. 



Labrador! and Newfoundland to Rocky Mountains, lat. 52^-50-, and 

 Kotzebue's Sound ; south to Canada ! and the south shore of Lake Superior, 

 Dr. Pitcher! — Scapes slender, 3-8 inches high, naked or with a single 

 somewhat clasping leaf. Leaves, sepals &c. marked, though not con- 

 stantly, as in all the species, with brownish dots. Petals, in American spe- 

 cimens, 3-5-nerved, h-i longer than the oblong-lanceolate sepals. Setse pel- 

 lucid, with minute glandular tips. — Our American specimens are all much 



