174 ELEMENTS OP BOTANY. 



I. STEIRONEMA. 



Perennial herbs ; leaves opposite or whorled, simple, entire ; 

 flowers yellow, axillary or racemose, on slender peduncles; 

 calyx tube 5-parted, persistent ; corolla 5-parted, rotate, tube 

 very short or none, the lobes denticulate at the apex, and in 

 the bud each one enclosing a stamen ; stamens 5, distinct or 

 slightly united at the base, sterile rudiments often alternat- 

 ing with them ; ovary globose, style slender ; fruit a globose, 

 5-valved, few or many-seeded capsule. 



1. S. ciLiATUM (L.) Raf. Fringed Loosestrife. Stems erect, 

 slender, simple or branched, 1-3 ft. high ; leaves opposite, ovate to 

 ovate-lanceolate, acute at the apex, rounded at the base, margins 

 and petioles hairy-fringed ; flowers solitary on axillary peduncles, 

 |-1 in. broad ; petals broadly ovate or roundish, denticulate ; calyx 

 shorter than the capsule. June-August. AVoods and thickets. 



2. S. LAXCEOLATUM (Walt.) Gr. Lance-leaved Loosestrife. 

 Stem erect, slender, smooth, simple or branched, 1--3 ft. high ; leaves 

 opposite or the upper ones whorled, the lower leaves petioled, broadly 

 ovate or orbicular, the upper linear-lanceolate or linear, sessile, mar- 

 gins smooth or ciliate ; flowers on slender axillary branches, ^-| in. 

 broad ; petals cuspidate ; capsule nearly as long as the calyx lobes. 

 June- August. On damp soil. 



IL ANAGALLIS. 



Annual or perennial herbs ; stems erect or diffuse ; leaves 

 opposite or whorled ; flowers axillary, peduncled ; calyx tube 

 5-parted, persistent ; corolla rotate, 5-parted, longer than the 

 calyx; stamens 5, inserted on the base of the corolla, fila- 

 ments bearded ; ovary globose, style slender, stigma capitate ; 

 fruit a many-seeded capsule with circumscissile dehiscence. 



A. ARVENSis L. Poor Man's Weather-glass. Annual; stem 

 spreading, widely branched, 4-angled, smooth, 4-12 in. long ; leaves 

 opposite, sessile, ovate, black-dotted beneath ; flowers on peduncles 

 longer than the leaves, nodding in fruit; corolla glandular-ciliate, 

 longer than the acute calyx lobes, bright red, opening in sunshine ; 

 capsule globose, tipped by the persistent style. May- July. Intro- 

 duced, and common in fields and cardens. 



