Elatine. ELATINACEi^. 203 



Order XXVI. ELATINACEiE. Camhess(des. 



Sepals £-5. mostly distinct, persistent. Petals hypogynous, as many 

 as the sepals and alternate with them. Stamens hypogynous, as many 

 or twice as many as tiie petals : anthers fixed by the middle, in- 

 trorse. Ovary 2-5-celIed : styles 2-5, distinct or united at the base, 

 or none: stigmas capitate. Capsule 2-5-celled, 2-5-valved : (dehis- 

 ccnce septicidal, Camb., Lindl. ; loculicidal, ex Am.), many-seeded, 

 crowned with the persistent styles or stigmas : placenta? in the axis. 

 Seeds anatropous, cylindrical, slightly curved or straight, with little or 

 no albumen. Embryo cylindrical : cotyledons short. — Annual marsh 

 plants, with fistulous rooting stems, opposite entire or serrate leaves, 

 and very small axillary or solitary flowers. Stipules small and incon- 

 spicuous, sometimes wanting. 



For information concerning this small family, vid. Camb. in Mim. du Musium, 

 18. p. 225, (f- in A. St. Ilil. Jl. Bras. 2. p. 159 ; Arnott, in Edinb. jour. nat. (f- 

 geogr. science, 1. p. 430 ; Fischer tf* Meyer, in jour. acad. imp. des naiuralistes, Mos- 

 cou, df' in Linnaa, 10. p. 69. Bartliiig unites the family with Lythraceae, with 

 which, indeed, it possesses many points of resemblance. 



1. ELATINE. Linn.; Gcertn. fr. t. 112; Arnott, I. c. 



Styles distinct, very short, or none. — The rest as in the character of the 

 Order. -4r«. 



-f-l. £J. Americana ("Am. 1. c.) : diffuse, procumbent, rooting from the joints ; 

 branches assurgcnt ; leaves cuneate-obovate, obtuse ; flowers sessile, minute ; 

 sepals, petals, stamens, and sessile stigmas 2, sometimes 3. — Peplis Ameri- 

 cana, Pnrsh, fl. 1. p. 238. Crypta minima, Niitt. ! in jour. acad. Philad. 

 1. p. 117. t. 6. /. 1 ; Torr.! Jl. 1. ;;. 32. Elatine minima, Fisch. ^ Mey- 

 er, I. c. p. 25. 



Margins of ponds and streams, Connecticut ! and New-York ! to Mary- 

 land ! west to Missouri ! Probably extending throughout the United States. 

 July-Sept. — Branches i-2 inches long. Seeds slightly curved, minutely ru- 

 gose transversely. — Very nearly aUied to E. triandra, of Europe. 



Order XXVII. LINACE.E. DC. 



Sepals 5 (sometimes 3 or 4), distinct or united at the base, persis- 

 tent : aestivation strongly imbricated. Petals as many as sepals and 

 alternate with them, hypogynous, with short claws, fugitive : aestiva- 

 tion twisted. Stamens as many as the petals (often with intermediate 

 teeth or abortive stamens), united at the base in a hypogynous ring, 

 persistent : anthers fixed by the middle, introrse, with no manifest con- 

 nectivum. Ovary of 5 (rarely 3 or 4) united carpels ; central axis 

 short or none : styles filiform, distinct (rarely united) : stigmas capi. 



