CUCURBITACEiE. 117 



of the calyx, witli a twisted aestivation. Stamens as many or 

 twice as many as the petals ; anthers long. Ovary 3 — 6-celled ; 

 style 1 ; stigma simple. Fruit capsular or baccate. Seeds very 

 numerous, without albumen. — Herbs, trees or shrubs, with op- 

 posite mostly entire leaves. Flowers termmal, solitary or cy- 

 mose. 



RHEXIA. Z.m?t.— Rhexia. 

 (A Greek name said to have been originally applied to a different plant.) 



Calyx with the tube ventricose-ovate at base, narrowed at the 

 apex ; the limb 4-cleft. Petals 4, obovate. Anthers 8, at- 

 tached to the filaments behind, naked at base. Capsule free in 

 the calyx, 4-celled. Seeds cochleate. 



1. R. Mariana Linn. : very hairy ; leaves linear-oblong or lanceolate, 

 acute at each end, sparingly hispid on both sides, ciliate-serrulate ; calyx 

 hispid. 



Wet grounds. N. J. to Flor. and Louis. July, Aug. %.—Stem l~2 k^t 

 high, slender." Petals obovate, hairy on the outer surface, purple. 



Maryland Rhexia. 



2. R. ciliosa Mich : stem nearly square, smooth; leaves broad-ovate, 

 subpetiolate, serrulate, ciliate, 3-nerved, smooth beneath, slightly hispid 

 above ; flowers v^^ith an involucre ; calyx smooth. R. pebiolata Walt. 



Moist pine barrens. Del. to Flor. July. % — Stem 12—18 inches high. 

 Flowers in a loose dichotomous panicle, large, purple, with an involucre of 

 leaves at the base of each. Fringed Rhexia. 



3. R. Virginica Linn.: stem with winged angles, somewhat hairy, 

 square; leaves sessile, ovate-lanceolate, ciliate, serrate, sprinkled with 

 hairs on both sides ; calyx hispid. 



Wet meadows, Mass. and N. Y. to Louis, and Ark. July— Sept. %..— 

 Stem a foot high, often dichotomously branched above. Leaves 5 — 7-nerved, 

 almost naked beneath. Flowers large, purple, in a dichotomous corymb. 



Deer Grass. 



Order XLIX. CUCURBITACE^.— Cucurbits. 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Calyx 5-toothed, some- 

 times obsolete. Corolla 5-parted, scarcely distinguishable from 

 the calyx, with strongly marked reticulated veins. Stamens 5, 

 distinct, or cohering in 2 or 3 parcels ; anthers sinuous. Ovary 

 adherent, 1 -celled ; style short ; stigma very thick, velvety or 

 fringed. Fruit more or less succulent (a pepo). Seeds flat, 

 often aiillate, without albumen. — Succulent herbaceous plants, 

 climbing by tendrils. Leaves alternate, palmately veined. 

 Flowers axillary. 



