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 berry-like, globose, of 2-9 one- 

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

 albumen. 



1. CERATIOLA, Michx. 



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

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

 short: stigma many-cleft. Drupe 2-seedcd. — A heath-like erect verticillatcly 

 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, appressed. Drupe 

 yellowish, somewhat persistent. 



Order 121. BATIDACEiE. (Batis Family.) 

 Represented only by 



1. BATIS, P. Browne. 



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

 flowers round-cordate, persistent. Calyx cup-shaped, somewhat compressed, 

 unequally 2-lipped. Petals 4, rliombic-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-cellcd, 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-cellcd, introrse. 

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



