LOOSESTRIFE FAMILY 165 



not auriculate ; flowers solitary or rarely 2-3 in the axils ; petals minute, broadly obovate ; cap- 

 sule spheroid, 3 mm. long ; seeds very minute, angled, faintly reticulate. 



Swamps and edges of ponds. Transition Zone to the tropics; in the Pacific States ranging from southern 

 Washington (Klickitat County) to southern California; also extending to New England and south to tropical 

 South America. Type locality: Virginia. June-Sept. 



2. AMMANNIA [Houst.] L. Sp. PI. 119. 1753. 



Annual g-labrous or g-labrate herbs, mostly with 4-angled stems, opposite sessile narrow 

 leaves, and small axillary solitary or clustered flowers. Calyx campanulate, globose or 

 ovoid, 4-angled, 4-toothed, often with small accessory teeth in the sinuses. Petals 4, 

 deciduous. Stamens 4—8, inserted on the calyx-tube; filaments slender or short. Ovary 

 enclosed in the calyx -tube, nearly globose, 2-4-celled, bursting irregularly. Seeds numer- 

 ous, angled and minutely pitted. [Name in honor of Johann Ammann, 1699-1741, a Ger- 

 man botanist.] 



A genus of approximately 20 species, of wide geographical distribution, most abundant in warm temperate 

 and tropical regions. Type species, Ammannia latifolia L. 



1. Ammannia coccinia Rottb. Long-leaved Ammannia. Fig. 3347. 



Ammannia coccinia Rottb. PI. Hort. Havn. Descr. 7. 1773. 



Annual erect glabrous herb, branching below, 1-4 dm. high. Leaves linear-lanceolate, 2-5 cm. 

 long, cordate-auriculate clasping, acute or acuminate at the apex, entire ; flowers 2-5 or rarely 

 solitary in each axil, sessile or subsessile ; petals purple, 1-2 mm. long, fugacious ; fruiting capsule 

 4 mm. long, slightly exceeded by the calyx ; style persistent, about half as long as the capsule. 



Swamps and wet banks. Transition to Tropical Zones; of wide geographical range extending from northern 

 United States to Brazil. In the Pacific States it is not abundant but ranges from Klickitat County, Washington, 

 to southern California. Type locality: not ascertained. May-Nov. 



Peplis Portula L. Sp. PI. 332. 1753. Common Peplis or Water Purslane. Glabrous annual, creeping and 

 rooting at the base of the branches; leaves obovate or oblong, mostly 5-10 mm. long, narrow at base, entire; flowers 

 minute, sessile in the axils of the leaves; calyx short-campanulate, with 6 outer and 6 smaller inner teeth; petals 

 minute or none; stamens 6; style very short; capsule globose, included in the calyx, barely 2 mm. in diameter. 

 This adventive from Europe has been collected by J. T. Howell, in Summit Valley, Placer County, California. 



3. LYTHRUM L. Sp. PI. 446. 1753. 



Herbs or shrubs with 4-angled stems and opposite, alternate or rarely verticillate, 

 entire leaves. Flowers solitary in the axils, or cymose-paniculate or spicate and terminal, 

 often dimorphous. Calyx-tube cylindric, 8-12-ribbed, 4-6-toothed, with an equal number 

 of appendages in the sinuses. Petals 4-6, attached to the rim of the tube, rarely wanting. 

 Stamens 4-12, inserted rather low on the calyx-tube. Ovary oblong, 2-celled ; style fili- 

 form; ovules numerous. Capsules included in the calyx-tube, membranous, 2-celled, 2- 

 valved or bursting irregularly. Seeds minute, flat or angled. [Name Greek, meaning gore, 

 from the purple color of the flowers.] 



A genus of about 30 species, of wide geographical distribution. Type species, Lythrum Salicaria L. 



Leaves mainly alternate; flowers axillary and solitary; stamens same number as petals. 



Flowers sessile or subsessile; petals 1-2 mm. long; seeds broadly and somewhat obliquely ovoid, nearly as 

 broad as long. 

 Annual, not stoloniferous. 1- L. Hyssopifolia 



Perennial, stoioniierous. ~- L. adsitrgens. 



Flowers pedicelled; petals 4-6 ram. long; seeds linear-lanceolate in outline, twice as long as wide. 



3. L. cahforntcum. 



Leaves opposite or verticillate; flowers in a terminal spicate panicle; stamens twice as many as petals. 



4. L. Sahcaria. 



1. Lythrum Hyssopifolia L. Hyssop Loosestrife or Grass Poly. Fig. 3348, 



Lythrum Hyssopifolia L. Sp. PI. 447. 1753. 



Annual, pale green and glabrous, the stems erect or assurgent, becoming much-branched, 

 1.5-5 dm. high. Leaves alternate or in young plants opposite near the base, sessile, oblong to 

 linear, obtuse at apex, rounded at base, 8-20 mm. long ; flowers solitary and sessile in the axils, 

 not dimorphous ; petals erect, rose-colored or white, 1-2 mm. long ; stamens included ; fruiting 

 calyx-tube cylindric, narrowed at base, 4 mm. long, the teeth lanceolate-subulate, 1 mm. long; 

 seeds obliquely and broadly ovoid, barely 1 mm. long, and nearly as wide. 



Moist ground, Boreal and Austral Zones; wide geographical distribution in both the New and Old World; 

 in the Pacific States ranging from Washington to California. Type locality: Europe. Apnl-Oct. 



2. Lythrum adsurgens Greene. Wallow Poly. Fig. 3349. 



Lythrum adsurgens Greene, Pittonia 2: 12. 1889. 



Perennial by stolons, branching from the base, the branches prostrate, or ascending, 2-5 drn. 

 long. Leaves linear to oblong, 1-2 cm. long, obtuse or acutish at apex rounded at base, pale 

 green ; flowers sessile or subsessile ; petals rose-purple to white, 1-2 mm. long ; fruiting calyx- 



