286 OROBANCHACEiE. (bROOM-RAPE FAMILY.) 



branching annuals. Leaves petioled, entire, rouadish, the upper ones alternate, 

 riowers racemed. 



1. M. proboscidea, Glox. — Stems thick, at length prostrate; leaves 

 round-cordate; corolla (1^' long) whitish, spotted with yellow and purple; cap- 

 sule crested on one side, shorter than the beaks. — Waste places. Introduced. 

 July and Aug. 



Order 90. OROBAIVCHACE^. (Broom-rape Family.) 



Low, leafless, scaly herbs, parasitic on roots, with bilabiate didynamous 

 flowers. — Calyx 4 - 5-toothed or parte*!. Corolla withering-persistent, 

 tubular, the upper lip 2-cleft or entire, the lower 3-lobed. Stamens in- 

 serted on the tube of the corolla : anthers persistent. Ovary free, 1 -celled, 

 with 2-4 parietal placentse. Style simple, curved at the apex : stigma 

 thick, 2-lobed. Capsule 2-valved, many-seeded. Seeds very small, ana- 

 tropous, with the minute embryo at the base of transparent albumen. — 

 Flowers perfect or polygcunous, solitary or spiked. 



Synopsis. 



1. EPIPHEGTJS. Flowers polygamous, spiked ; the lower ones fertile, the upper sterile. C* 



Ijx 2-bracted, 5-toothed. Stem branching. 



2. CONOPIIOLIS. Flowers perfect, spiked. Calyx 2-bracted, cleft on the lower side. Stem 



simple, thick and fleshy. 



3. APHYLLON. Flowers solitary, perfect. Calyx bractless, 5-cleft. Corolla nearly equally 



5-lobed. 



1. EPIPHEGUS, Nutt. Beecu-props. 



Flowers polygamous ; the upper ones slender and sterile, the lower abbreviated 

 and fertile. Calyx 5-toothed. Capsule 2-valved at the apex, with 2 placentae 

 on each valve. — Stem smooth, slender, much branched, pui-plish. Flowers 

 small, in loose slender spikes. Corolla purplish. 



1. E. Virginiana, Bart. — Under Beech-trees, in deep shades, Florida to 

 Mississippi, and northward. Aug. — Stems 6' -12' high. Flowers scattered. 

 Corolla of the sterile flowers 4" - 6" long, 4-toothed, curved. 



2. CONOPHOLIS, Wallr. Squaw-root. 



Flowers perfect, densely spiked. Calyx 2-bracted, tubular, 4-toothed, cleft on 

 the lower side. Upper lip of the corolla arching, notched ; the lower short, 3- 

 toothed. Stamens exserted. Capsule 2-valved, with 2 placentae on each valve. 

 — A thick and fleshy whitish simple herb, covered with imbricated scales. Flow- 

 ers yellowish, spreading. 



1. C. Americana, Wallr. (Orobanche, Z.) — Shady woods, Florida to 

 Mississippi, and northward. April. — Stems clustered from matted roots, 4'-- 6' 

 high, I' thick. 



