321 PENTANDUIA— MONOCiYNIA. Samolus. 



118. SAMOLUS. Brook-weed. 



Linn.Gen.89. Juss.97. FI.Bt.2dO. Br.Pr.428. Tourn.t.60. 



Lam. t. 101. Gccrtn. t. 30. 



Nat. Ord. Precicc. Linn. 21. Akin to Lysimachite. Juss. 34. 



O/. inferior, of 1 leaf; tube hemispherical, closely investing 

 the lower half of the germen ; margin in 5 deep, triangu- 

 lar, equal, permanent segments. Cor. of 1 petal, funnel- 

 shaped ; tube wide, as long as the calyx ; limb spreading, 

 in 5 deep, obtuse segments, with 5 small, intermediate, 

 converging scales at their base. Filam. from the middle 

 of the tube, opposite to the segments of the limb, awl- 

 shaped, short. Anth. sheltered by the scales of the corolla, 

 roundish, 2-lobed. Germ, superior, invested with the 

 tube of the calyx, nearly globular. Style erect, short, co- 

 lumnar. Stigma capitate. Caps, globular, of 1 cell ; its 

 lower half closely invested with the tube of the calyx ; 

 upper opening with 5 recurved valves. Seeds numerous, 

 small, angular, attached to the globose, central, uncon- 

 nected receptacle. 



Herbaceous. Leaves alternate, undivided ; tapering at the 

 base into footstalks. II. terminal, racemose, bracteated, 

 white. 



This genus has marks of considerable affinity to Montia, 

 n. 62, and therefore to Jussieu's 86th order, Portulacece. 

 The apparently half inferior situation of the germen has 

 caused some doubts in the minds of the ablest botanists, 

 whether it could be referred to the Lysimachite, now 

 termed Primulacece. But that part is surely to be reckoned 

 superior; nor, were it otherwise, is such a difference 

 always essential; witness Vacciniwn and Erica. See 

 Grammar 112, 214, 216. 



1. S. Valerandi. Common Brook-weed. Water 

 Pimpernel. 



Leaves obovate, obtuse. Clusters corymbose, many-flowered. 

 Bracteas solitary, in the middle of each partial stalk. 



S. Valerandi. Linn. Sp. PI. 243. Willd. v. 1 . 927. Fl. Br. 259. 



Engl. Bot. v.\0.t. 703. Br. Pr. 428. Curt. Lond.fasc. 4. t. 20. 



Hook. Scot. 80. Fl. Dan. t. 1 98. Rail Syn. 283. Bauh. Hist. 



v. 3. 780./. Ehrh. Phyt. 92. 

 S. n. 707. Hall. Hist. v. 1 . 3 1 2. 

 Anagallis anuatica rotundifolia. Ger. Em. 620./. 



