302 ACANTHACEZ, (ACANTHUS FAMILY.) 
spreading, biconvex, with three short lobes. Stamens 4, didynamous, under the — 
upper lip: anthers approximate, oblong, hairy ; the cells nearly equal, slightly 
pointed at the base. - Ovary with 2 ovules in each cell. Capsule compressed, —— 
oblique, loculicidally 2-valved, 1 - 4-seeded. — Annual herbs, with opposite lan- — — 
ceolate or linear leaves, and solitary axillary flowers. adt. 
1. M. Americanum, Michx. Stem naked below, leafy and commonly 
branched above the middle; leaves lanceolate, entire, short-petioled ; the upper 
ones broader and sharply toothed at the base; flowers greenish-yellow.— Dry 
woods along the mountains, Georgia, and northward. Aug. — Stem 6/-12! 
high. Leaves 2’ long. Flowers 4'!— 5 long. 
Orper 92. ACANTHACEAE. (Acanrnvs FAMILY) 
Chiefly herbs, with opposite (rarely alternate or clustered) undivided 
exstipulate leaves, and brácted, often showy flowers. — Calyx 5-parted. 
Corolla more or less bilabiate, 5-lobed, twisted in the bud. Fertile sta- 
mens 2 or 4, inserted on the tube of the corolla: anthers 2-celled. 
Ovary free. Style single: stigma entire or 2-lobed. Capsule loculici- 
dally 2-valved, 2-celled, 4 — several-seeded, opening elastically. Seeds 
anatropous, flat, rounded, without albumen, mostly supported by curved 
appendages of the placentz.  Radicle inferior. — Stems commonly swol- 
len between the joints. 
Synopsis. ; 
* Capsule oblong, bearing the seeds at the base. Appendages of the placentæ none. 
1. ELYTRARIA. Spike borne on a closely-bracted scape. Leaves radical. 
* * Capsule club-shaped, bearing the seeds above the base, appendaged. — ü 
2. DIPTERACANTHUS. Corolla nearly regular. Stamens 4. Flowers axillary, solitary 
clustered. pU 
3. DIANTHERA. Corolla bilabiate. Stamens 2. Cells of the anthers placed one lower 
the other. Flowers in long-peduncled axillary spikes. 
4. DICLIPTERA. Corolla bilabiate, resupinate. Stamens 2. Cells of the anthers nas 
one behind the other. Flowers in leafy-bracted heads or clusters. 
1, ELYTRARIA, Vahl 
Calyx 4- 5-parted, the lateral lobes narrower. Corolla salvershapel v. 
bilabiate, 5-lobed. Fertile stamens 2, the 2 anterior ones sterile : an 
„parallel. Stigma 2-cleft. Capsule sessile, about 8-seeded ; the seeds fixed n al 
the base of the capsule, without appendages. — Low herbs. Leaves all radi 
clustered. Scape covered with imbricated bracts. Flowers spiked, 2-bracted- 
1. E. virgata, Michx. Leaves oval or oblong, narrowed ponen 
entire or wavy on the margins, smooth or pubescent; bracts ato 
alternate, rigid, lanceolate, acuminate, clasping; those of the spike OWN’ — 
corolla white, salver-shaped, the lobes nearly equal; capsule cyli me 
‘Banks of rivers, Florida to South Carolina. Aug. 3 — Scapes 6-12 P8" 
X 
