400 ACANTHACE^. (ACANTHUS FAMILY.) 



supported hy hooked projections of the placentce (retinacula). — Flowers 

 commonly much bracted. Calyx 5-cleft. Style thread-form ; stigma 

 simple or 2-eleft. Pod loculicidal, usually flattened contrary to the valves 

 and partition. Cotyledons broad and flat. — Mucilaginous and slightly 

 bitter, not noxious. A large family in the warmer parts of the world ; 

 represented in gardens by Thunbergia, which differs from the rest by 

 the globular pod and seeds, the latter not on hooks. 



* Corolla not obviouslj' bilabiate, the 5 lobes broad and roundish, spreading ; stamens 4 



1. Calophanes. Calyx-lobes long-filiform. Capsule 2- 4-seeded. 



2. Riiellia. Calyx-lobes mostly linear or lanceolate. Capsule 6- 20-seeded. 



* * Corolla bilabiate, upper lip erect and concave, lower spreading ; stamens 2. 

 S. Dianthera. Capsule obovate, flattened, 4-seeded. 



1. CALOPHANES, Don. 



Calyx deeply 5-cleft or parted ; its lobes elongated setaceous-acuminate or 

 aristiform. Corolla funnel-form, with ample limb, convolute in the bud. Sta- 

 mens 4, the anthers mucronate or sometimes aristate at base. Ovules a single 

 pair in each cell. Capsule oblong-linear, 2 - 4-seeded. — Low branching per- 

 ennials, pubescent or hirsute, with proportionally large axillary nearly sessile 

 flowers (solitary or few), and blue corolla. (Name from Ka\6s, beautiful, and 

 (paivoo, to apj>ear.) 



1. C. Oblongifolia, Don. Stems usually erect and simple, l-\° high; 

 leaves from narrowly oblong to oval, very obtuse, sessile (1' long or less) ; co- 

 rolla blue, sometimes purple-dotted or mottled, seldom I'loug; calyx-lobes 

 nearly distinct, filiform-setaceous, hirsute. — Pine-barrens, S. Va. to Fla. 



2. RUELLIA, Plumier. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla funnel-form, with spreading ample border, convo- 

 lute in the bud. Stamens 4, the cells of the somewhat arrow-shaped anthers 

 parallel and nearly equal. Capsule narrow, in our species somewhat flattened, 

 contracted and seedless at the base, above 8- 12-seeded. Seeds with a muci- 

 laginous coat, when wet exhibiting under the microscope innumerable taper- 

 ing short bristles, their walls marked with rings or spirals. — Perennials, with 

 rather large and showy blue or purple flowers, mostly in axillary clusters, 

 sometimes also with small flowers precociously close-fertilized in the bud. Ca 

 lyx often 2-bracteolate. (Named for the early herbalist, John Ruelle.) 



1. R. eiliosa, Pursh. Hirsute wdth soft whitish hairs (1 -3° high) ; leavet 

 nearly sessile, oval or ovate-oblong (1-2' long) ; flowers 1-3 and almost sessile 

 in the axils; tube of the corolla (1 - 1|' long) fully twice the length of the seta- 

 ceous calyx-lobes ; the throat short. — Dry ground, Mich, to Minn., south to 

 Fla. and La. June -Sept. — Var. AMBfouA, Gray. Sparingly hirsute-pu])es- 

 cent or glabrate ; leaves ovate-oblong, usually short-petioled, larger ; tube of 

 corolla little exceeding the hardly hirsute calyx. — Va. and Ky. to Ala. Ap- 

 pearing like a hybrid with the next. 



2. R. Strepens, L. Glabrous or sparinyly pidicsceut (1 -4° high) ; leava 

 narrou-ed at base into a petiole, ovate, obovate, or mostly ol)long (2^-5' long; , 

 tube of the corolla (about V long) little longer than the dilated portion, sligntly 



