Galax. PLUMBAGINACE^. 53 



D. L-;pp6nica, L. Plant forming very dense cushion-like tufts, glabrous : leaves im- 

 bricated on the short shoots, cartilaginous, spatulate (3 to 5 lines long), witli mostly revo- 

 lute margins : i^eduncle at length an inch or two long ; sepals and 2 or 3 bractlets oval, 

 rigid: corolla white, open campanulate ; the tube (2 lines long) not longer than the calyx, 

 nearly equalled by the rounded lobes: filaments linear. — Fl. Lapp. t. 1; Wahl. Fl. Lapp, 

 t. 9; Fl. Dan. t. 47; Bot. Mag. t. 1108. — Labrador, Alpine summits of White Mountains, 

 New Hampshire, Mount Mansfield, Vermont, and N. W. arctic coast. (Greenland eastward 

 to Japan.) 



3. SHORTIA, Torr. & Gray. (Dedicated to the late Br. Charles W. Short, 

 of Kentucky.) — Gray in Amer. Jour. Sci. xlii. 48, ser. 2, xlv. 402, & Proc. Am. 

 Acad. viii. 246; Maxim. Mel. Biol. ix. I'J ; Benth. & Hook. Gen. ii. 020. — 

 Two species, one Japanese, from which the character of the corolla, stamens, &c., 

 were drawn by Maximowicz. 



S. galacifolia, Torr. & Gray, llootstocks slender and apparently stoloniferous : leaves 

 (2 inches wide) orbicular, moderately cordate and i-etuse, rcpan^l-serratc and the teeth 

 mucronate : peduncles in fruit a span high, not surpassing the long petioled leaves, scaly 

 bracteate towards the summit: style elongated, persistent. — High mountains of N. Caro- 

 lina, Michaiix. In fruit only. 



4. GALAX, L., Sims. (If from yaXa, milk, an unmeaning name.) — Linn. 

 Gen. ed. 5, 93, excluding all the character and the synonymy ; these wholly of 

 ViticeUa, Mitchell, which is Hi/drophyUiun appendicidatum. Anonipnos s. Bel- 

 vedere, Clayt. Virg. ed. 1, 25, with good character, which is wholly omitted by 

 Gronovius himself, in Fl. Virg. ed. 2, because quite incongruous with the generic 

 character of Galax by Linnaeus. — Single species. 



G. aphylla, L. Glabrous herb, with reddish creeping and matted rootstocks, sending up 

 leaves and scape : leaves round-cordate, thickly crcnate-dentate, veiny, thin but persistent 

 over winter, rather shining, 1^ to 3 inches broad, long-petioled : scape a foot or two high, 

 slender and very naked, almost bractless : raceme virgate and spike-like : bractlets minute, 

 deciduous: flowers numerous, small: corolla 2 lines long, white. — Spec. i. 200 (excl. syn. 

 Mitch.) ; Sims, Bot. Mag. t. 754 (wiicre the true char. gen. first appears with the name) ; DC. 

 Prodr. vii. 776. Eri/throrhiza rotnndifolia, Michx. Fl. ii. 36. BJaufordia corchita, Andr. Bot. 

 Rep. t. 343. Solenandria cordifulia, P. de Beauv. ex Vent. Malm. t. 69. — Wooded hillsides 

 and in mountains, Virginia to Georgia ; fl. early summer. 



Order LXXX. PLUMBAGINACEJ5. 



Herbs, occasionally somewhat woody, agreeing with PrimulacecB in having the 

 stamens isomerous with the petals or divisions of the corolla and opposite them ; 

 the filaments adnate only to their base or completely hypogynous ; the free ovary 

 one-celled, with a solitary anatropous ovule pendulous on a slender funiculus 

 which rises from the base of the cell ; styles 5 and distinct or united ; the sinole 

 seed with a large and straight embryo surrounded by (or sometimes destitute 

 of) a sparing mealy albumen. Chiefly affecting saline soil. Leaves alternate, 

 mostly rosulate. Flowers regular and symmetrical, 5-merous, perfect. Calyx 

 gamosepalous, costate, plaited at the sinuses, persistent. Corolla with claws to 

 the nearly distinct petals, or these united into a tube, convolute or rarely im- 

 bricated in the bud. Anthers 2-celled, opening longitudinally. Disk none. 

 P'ruit dry, utricular or akene-likc, sometimes dehiscent by a lid or by valves. — 

 Innocent, with astringent roots or rootstocks. 



