Order 16.— VIOLAX'E^E. 241 



plant, with curious purple flowers, common in gardens, escaped into fields, &c. 

 South. May— A ug.f § W. Ind. 



2 C. speciocissima Deppe. Pilous ; st. branching below , lvs. 5 — 7 -foliate, 

 on long petioles ; lfts. lanceolate, acuminate, the upper lvs. simple, bract-like, 

 ovate ; petals as long as the pedicels ; fruit shorter than its stipe. — (T) Gardens. 

 Plant very showy, 3 — if high. Fls. rose-purple, clustered at the summit of the 

 rising raceme from Jn. to Sept. f Mexico. 



3. POLANISIA, Raf. (Gr. -ttoXv, much, dviaoc, unequal.) Sepals dis- 

 tinct, spreading ; petals 4, unequal ; stamens 8 — 32, filaments filiform 

 or dilated at the summit; torus not developed, minute; pods linear. — 

 (2) Strong-scented herbs, with glandular, viscid hairs. 



P. graveolens Raf. Viscid-pubescent ; lvs. ternate, lfts. elliptic-oblong ; fls. 

 axillary, solitary; sta. 8 — 12; caps, oblong-lauceolate, attenuate at base. — Grav- 

 elly shores, Vt. to Ark. St. If high, branching, striate. Lfts. 1 — 1 |' long, | as 

 wide, nearly entire and sessile ; common petiole 1' long. Fls. in terminal racemes. 

 Petals yellowish-white, narrowed below into long claws. Fil. slender, exserted. 

 Pods 2' long, glandular-pubescent, siliquose, viscid like every other part of the 

 plant. JL 



Order XV. RESEDACEiE. Mignonetts. 



Herbs, with alternate, entire, or pinnate leaves. Stipules minute, gland-like. Fb. 

 in racemes or spikes, small and often fragrant, 4 — 7-merous. Sepals somewhat 

 united at base, unequal, green. Petals unequal, entire or cleft. Sta. 8 — 20, in- 

 serted on the disk. Torus hypogynous, one-sided, glandular. Ova. sessile, 3-lobed, 

 1-celled, many-seeded. Placentce 2, parietal. Fr. a capsule, 1-celled, opening be- 

 tween the stigmas before maturity. (Illustrated in Figs. 295, 422.) 



Genera 6, species 41, inhabiting the countries around the Mediterranean Sea, having no very 

 remarkable properties. Eeseila luteola contains a yellow coloring matter, and other species are 

 very fragrant. 



RESEDA, L. (Lat. resedo, to calm ; the plants are said to relieve 

 pain.) Sepals 4 — 7; petals of an equal number, often cleft; torus 

 large, fleshy, one-sided, bearing the 8 — oo stamens. 



1 R. luteola L. Dyer's Weed. Lvs. lanceolate, with a tooth on each side at base; 

 sepals 4, united below ; petals (greenish-yellow) 3 — 5-cleft. — (J) Nearly natural- 

 ized in West. N. Y. St. about 2f high. The flowers are arranged in a long 

 spike, which, as Linnaeus observes, follows the course of the sun, inclining east, 

 south and west, by day, and north by night. — It affords a useful yellow dye, also, 

 the paint called Dutch pink, § Eur. 



2 R. odorata L. Mignonette. Fig. 295, 422. Lvs. cuneiform, entire or 

 3-lobed; sep. shorter than the 7 — 13-cleft petals. — A well known and universal 

 favorite of the garden, native of Egypt. The flowers are highly fragrant and no 

 bouquet should be considered complete without them. The variety frutescexs is 

 by a peculiar training (§87) made perennial and raised to the height of 2f, 

 with the form of a tree. The species phyteuma, native of Palestine, has a calyx 

 larger than the petals. 



Order XVI. VIOLACELE. Violets. 



Herbs with' simple (often cleft) alternate leaves with stipules. Fls. irregular, 

 spurred, with the sepals, petals and stamens in 5s. Sep. persistent, slightly united, 

 elongated at base, the 2 lateral interior. Petals commonly unequal, the inferior 

 usually spurred at base. Sta. 5, usually inserted on the lrypogynous disk. Fil 

 dilated, prolonged beyond the anthers. Ova. of 3 united carpels, with 3 parietal 



16 



