BATIDACE^. (bATIS FAMILY.) 411 



2-celle{l, extrorse. Ovary 2 - 9-celled, the cells 1-ovuled. Style short or 

 none : stigma lobed or incised. Drupe beri-y-like, globose, of 2-9 one- 

 seeded nutlets. Seeds erect. Embryo in the axis of copious fleshy 

 albumen. 



1, CERATIOLA, INIichx. 



Calyx bracted, of two fringed sepals. Corolla 2-petaIled. Stamens 2 : an- 

 ther-cells globose. Ovary resting on a fleshy disk, 2-celled, 2-ovuled. Style 

 short : stigma many-cleft. Drupe 2-seeded. — A heath-like erect verticillately 

 much branched shrub, with small linear shining whorled leaves, and axillary 

 (whorled) reddish flowers. 



1. C. ericoides, Michx. Dry barren sands, Florida to South Carolina. 

 November. — Shrub 2° - 5° high, the young branches pubescent. Leaves 3 in a 

 whorl, 4" -6" long, the margins revolute. Petioles yellowish, appresscd. Drupe 

 yellowish, somewhat persistent. 



Order 121. BATIDACE^. (Batis Family.) 

 Represented only by 



1. BATIS, P. Browne. 



Flowers dioecious, in axillary fleshy conical spikes. Bracts of the sterile 

 flowers round-cordate, persistent. Caly.K cup-shaped, somewhat compressed, 

 unequally 2-lipped. Petals 4, rhombic-ovate, clawed. Stamens 4, alternate with 

 the petals, partly exserted : anthers oblong, introrse. Fertile flowers consoli- 

 dated. Bracts deciduous. Calyx and corolla none. Ovary 4-celled, with a 

 single erect anatropous ovule in each cell. Stigma sessile, broad, obscurely 

 2-lobed. Drupe 4-seeded. Seed oblong, without albumen. Cotyledons fleshy. 

 Radicle inferior. — A smooth maritime shrub, with the habit of Salicornia. 

 Leaves opposite, fleshy, club-shaped, semi-terete. Stipules none. Petals white. 



I. B. maritima, L. — Salt marshes, Apalachicola, and southward. June- 

 Sept. — Plant pale green, strong-scented. Stems prostrate, 2° - 3° long, the 

 short branching flowering stems erect. Leaves 1' long. Spikes 3" -5" long. 



Order 122. URTICACE^. (Nettle Family.) 



Herbs, with watery juice, often armed with stinging hairs. Leaves un- 

 divided, stipulate. Flowers monoecious or dioecious, apetalous, clustered, 

 cymose, spiked, or panicled. — Calyx of the sterile flower 4 - 5-parted or 

 4 - 5-sepalous. Stamens as many as and opposite the sepals. Filaments 

 inflexed in the bud, expanding elastically : anthers 2-celled, introrse. 

 Calyx of the fertile flower 2 - 4-sepalous. Ovary sessile, free, 1-celled, 



