RHIZOPHORACEJE. (MANGROVE FAMILY.) 135 



Beveral -flowered ; petals 5, showy; stamens 10, the alternate ones shorter. 

 (Decodon verticillatnm, Ell.) — Marshes and margins of ponds, Florida and 

 northward. August. — Stems 3° -4° long. Flowers purple. 



5. CUPHEA, Jacq. 



Calyx tubular, 12-ribbed, gibbons or spurred at the base on the upper side, 

 6-toothed, and usually with as many little appendages in the sinuses. Petals G, 

 unequal. Stamens 11-12, unequal. Ovary with a gland at the base next the 

 spur of the calyx. Style filiform. Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule 1 - 2-celled, few- 

 seeded. — Chiefly herbs, with branching stems and purplish flowers. 



1. C. viscosissima, Jacq. Annual, clammy-pubescent; leaves thin, op- 

 posite, ovate-lanceolate, long-petioled, rough ; flowers nearly sessile, borne bc- 

 tween the petioles, solitary; petals violet-purple; stamens 12. — Upper districts 

 of Georgia, and northward. August. — Stem 1° high. 



2. C. aspera, n. sp. Perennial; muricate-hispid and clammy; leaves 3-4 

 in a whorl, lanceolate, nearly sessile ; peduncles longer than the leaves, borne 

 between the petioles (whorled) ; petals white or pale-purple ; stamens 11. — Low 

 pine barrens, St. Joseph's, Florida. Stem l°-l£° high. Leaves l'long, rigid. 

 Root bearing small tubers. 



The Crape Myrtle (Lagerstrolmia Ixdica, L.), originally from Eastern 

 Asia, is common in cultivation. 



Order 53. RHIZOPHORACEiE. (Mangrove Family.) 



Trees or shrubs, growing in maritime swamps, with opposite, entire, co- 

 riaceous leaves, and deciduous stipules between the petioles. — Calyx 

 united with the ovary, 4-1 2-lobcd, valvate or lid-like in the bud. Petals 

 as many as the calyx-lobes and alternate with them. Stamens twice or 

 several times as many as the petals, and inserted with them on the calyx. 

 Ovary 2-celled with the cells 2-ovuled, or 1-celled and several-ovuled. 

 Ovules pendulous. Fruit 1-celled, indehiscent. Albumen none. Radicle 

 elongated. 



1. RHIZOPHORA, L. Mangrove. 



Calyx-tube obovate, the limb 4-lobed, persistent. Petals 4, oblong, emargi- 

 nate, enfolding the alternate stamens in the bud, woolly on the margins. Sta- 

 mens 8. Anthers linear-oblong. Ovary 2-celled. Fruit encircled above the 

 base by the persistent calyx-lobes, at length perforated at the apex by the radicle 

 of the germinating embryo. — Flowers axillary, showy. 



1. R. Mangle, L. Leaves obovate-oblong ; peduncles 2-3-flowered; 

 germinating embryo clavate ; flowers pale yellow. — Muddy shores, South 

 Florida, forming dense low thickets. 



