■498 MAYACACK.E. (mAYACA lA.MILY.) 



crowded, short-stalked, hooded, narrowed at the base ; sterile peduncle included ; 

 petals nearly alike, the odd one smaller; seeds transversely oblon<^. (C. hirtella, 

 Vald. C. longifolia, Michx.) — Shady swamps, Ilorida, and northward. Aug. 

 and Sept. ]\. — Stem 1° - U° high. 



2. TRADE3CANTIA, L. SriDEKwoiiT. 



Flowers regular. Sepals herbaceous. Petals .similar, ovate, fugacious. Sta- 

 mens all fertile, the filaments hairy: anthers kidney-shaped. Ovaiy 3-eelled, 

 with two ovules in each cell. Capsule 2-3-celled, the cells 1-2-seedcd. — 

 Perennial herbs, with narrow keeled leaves, both the floral ones and those of 

 the stem. Flowers in umbel-like clusters, axillary and terminal, expanding in 

 the morning. Fruiting pedicels recurved. 



1. T. Virginiea, L. Smooth, or villous with glandloss hairs; leaves 

 linear, broadest at the base, mostly purple-veined ; clusters axillary and termi- 

 nal, sessile, many-flowered ; flowers closely packed in 2 rows in the bud, each 

 with an ovate scarious bract at the base ;. petals blue, like the style and densely 

 bearded filaments, twice as long as the lanceolate-ovate sepals. — Dry sandy soil, 

 Florida, and northward. March -May. — Stems ^,°-2°high. Flowers 1' in 

 diameter. 



2. T. pilosa, Lehm. Stem often branched, and, like the sheatiis, villous 

 or nearly smooth ; leaves oblong, nanowed at the base, pubescent on both sides ; 

 clusters axillary and terminal, sessile, dense, many-flowered ; the pedicels and 

 crfjlong sepals villous with glandular hairs; seeds transversely oblong, pitted on 

 t'le back; petals blue. — Light soil in the upper districts. May -July. — Stem 

 l°-li° high Leaves I'-lj' wide. Flowers 3' in diameter. 



3. T. rosea, Vent. Stem simple, slender, smooth ; leaves linear-lanceolate, 

 fringed on tlie margins; clusters solitary or by pairs, on long {3'-G') terminal 

 j)eduncles, few-flowered ; petals bright rose-color, three times as long as the 

 ovate-lanceolate sepals. — Light fertile soil, Georgia to North Carolina. June - 

 Aug. — Stem 0' -8' high. Flowers i' in diameter. 



OuDKR 15G. MAYACACEiE. (Mayaca Family.) 



Creeping moss-like marsh herbs, with very numerous narrow and pel- 

 lucid leaves, and solitary axillary llowers. Represented only by 



1. MAYACA, Auhlet. 



Flowers regular, perfect. Sepals .3, lain'colatc, herbaceous, persistent. Petals 

 3, obovate, deciduous or withering-persistent. Stamens 3, free, inserted on the 

 base of the sepals, persistent- anthers erect, spoon-shaped, imperfectly 2-i'ellcd, 

 cmarginate at the apex, introrse. Ovary 1-ceIled. Ovules few, orthotropous, 

 fixeil to three parietal )>!acent;c. Style single, terminal, |)ersistent : stigma mi- 

 nutely 3-lobcd. Capsule rugose, 3-valved ; the valves bearing the placenta: in 



