184 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



to I inch wide, smooth above, somewhat hairy beneath, pointed at both 

 ends, on very short petioles. Flowers numerous in cymelike axillary 

 clusters; calyx broadly campanulate; corolla about an inch or less broad, 

 petals cuneate at the base, pink-purple, the slender filaments of the stamens 

 projecting from the flower. Fruiting capsule about one-fourth of an inch 

 in diameter or slightly less. 



In swamps, shallow water around the edges of lakes and ponds, or 

 along slow streams, often forming thickets, Maine to Florida, west to 

 Minnesota, Tennessee and Louisiana. Flowering in June and July. Also 

 known as peatweed or slink-weed, wild oleander and grass poly. 



Spiked or Purple Loosestrife 



Lythriini salicaria Linnaeus 



Plate 143b 



Stems four-angled, 2 to 4 feet high or sometimes taller from a perennial 

 root, smooth or somewhat pubescent or tomentose above and more or less 

 branched. Leaves opposite or sometimes in threes, sessile, lanceolate, 

 clasping and heart-shaped at the base 2 to 3 inches long, one-fourth to 

 one-half of an inch wide. Flowers purple, one-half to two-thirds of an 

 inch long and half as broad, in dense, terminal, branched racemes inter- 

 spersed with numerous small leaves; petals four or five, usually five; 

 stamens eight or ten, the longer ones scarcely projecting beyond the flower. 



Native of Europe but thoroughly naturalized and common in wet 

 places and swamps throughout the east. Very common along the Hudson 

 river from Albany to New York. Flowering in July and August. 



Meado\fr Beauty Family 



Melastomaceae 

 Meadow Beauty; Deer Grass 



Rhexia virginica Linnaeus 



Plate i,j,Sa 



Stems square, 8 to iS inches high, the angles of the stem usuall}' slightly 

 winged, hairy or nearly smooth ; roots perennial and fibrous with a few small 



