LIL LYTHRACE^. 259 



P. Granatum. Pomegranate. — Arborescent ; Ivs. lanceolate, with no margin- 

 al vein. — A thorny bush when wild, from S. Europe, where it is sometimes used 

 for hedges like the hawthorn. Leaves lanceolate, entire, smooth, 2 — 3' by 

 5 — 10", obtuse. The flowers are scarlet, large, and make a fine appearance. 

 The fruit is large, highly ornamental and of a fine flavor. Much care is requi- 

 site for its cultivation. It requires a rich loam, a sunny situation, protected by 

 glass. In this way double flowers of great beauty may be produced, -f 



P. NANA. Dwarf Pomegranate. — Shrubby; Ivs. linear-lanceolate, acute.— Na- 

 tive of the W. Indies, where it is used as a hedge plant. Shrub 4 — 6f high, with 

 smaller purple flowers, often double, f 



Order LI. MELASTOMACEiE.— Melastomes. 



Tree^, shrubs or herbs with square branches, and usually exstipulate. 



Lvs. opposite, entire and undivided, without dots and with several veins. 



Cai.— Sepals 4—6, united, persistent, the tube urceolate, cohering with only the angles of the ovary. 



Cor.— Petals as many as the segments of the calyx, twisted in aestivation. 



Sta. twice as many as the petals, sometimes of the same number, the filaments inflexed in ajstivation. 



Anth. before flowering contained in the cavity between the cal. and the sides of ova. 



Pr. capsular or baccate. 



Genera 118, species 1200. The order is represented in the United States by a single genus, the remain- 

 der being natives chiefly of India and tropical America. No plant of this order is poisonous. All are 

 slightly astringent. 



RHEXIA. 



G^'. ^£^tf, a rupture ; some of the species are good vuineraries. 



Calyx 4-cleft, swelling at the base ; petals 4 ; stamens 8, 1 -celled ; 

 style declined ; capsule 4-celled, nearly free from the investing calyx 

 tube ; placentae prominent ; seeds numerous. — % Lvs. opposite, exstipu- 

 late, ^-veined. 



1. R, ViRGiNicA. Meadow Beauty. Deer Grass. 



5^. with 4- winged angles; lvs. sessile, oval-lanceolate, ciliate-serrulate, 

 and with the stem clothed with scattered hairs ; cal. hispid. — Grows in wet 

 grounds, Mass. to 111. ! and La. Stem If or more high, often 3-forked above. 

 Leaves with 3 (rarely 5 or 7) prominent veins, 1 — 3' long, about J as wide, 

 acute. Flowers large, in corymbose cymes. Petals bright purple, obovate, his- 

 pid beneath, caducous. Anthers long and prominent, crooked, golden yellow 

 above with a purple line beneath. Style somewhat longer than the stamens, a 

 little declined. Jl. Aug. 



2. R. Mariana. Maryland Deer Grass. 



St. nearly terete, covered with bristly hairs ; lvs. lanceolate, acute, atten- 

 uate at base into a very short petiole and, with the calyx, clothed with scattered 

 hairs. — In sandy bogs, N. J. to Flor. The whole plant is hispid, even the pe- 

 tals externally. Stem 1 — 2f high, slender, and generally without branches. 

 Leaves often narrowly oblong, serrate-ciliate. Petals large, obovate, purple. 

 Jn.— Sept. 



Order LII. LYTHRACEiE.— Loosestrifes. 



Herbs, rarely shrubs, frequently with 4-cornered branches. 



Lvs. opposite, rarely alternate, entire, with neither stipules nor glands. 



Cal. tubular, the limb 4—7 lobed. sometimes with as many intermediate teeth. 



Cor.- Petals inserted into the calyx between tlie lobes, very deciduous, or 0. 



Sta. equal in number to the petals, or '^—4 limes ns many, inserted into the calyx. 



Ova. superior, enclosed in the cnlyx-tube, •J-4-rplled. Sty. united into one. 



fV.- Ca[)sule membriinoiis, enveloped in the ciilyx, usiiiilly by abortion 1-celled. 



Sds. small, 00, attached to a central placenta. Albuiiir.n 0. 



Genera 35, species 300. Some of llie species are found in temperate climeR, but most of them are tro- 

 pical- Lythrnm salicaria, native of Kurope, N. Holland and U. S., is used for tanning where it abounds. 

 All the species are astringent. 



Conspectus of (he Genera. 



<t horns. Petals Jltjpobrichla. 5 



Uvifh 4 teeth and ? 4 Hhort horns Avunannia. 1 



fcnmpanulate, Kvith 5 teeth and 5 long horns Decodon. 3 



< cylindrical, with minute, intermediate horns. I.ythrum 3 



Calyx ' vcntrico«e, gibbous at baRP, intermediate horns Cuphca. 4 



