SWAMPS, BOGS, AND MARSHES 51 



31. Hyssop-leaved Loosestrife 



L. hyssopifolia. — Color, light purple. Leaves, opposite, 

 scattered, oblong to linear, obtuse. Ti}?te, summer. 



Calyx, a tube with 5 to 7 teeth, and as many more — often 

 longer teeth — between the regular divisions. Petals, 5 to 7. 

 'Stameiis, 4, 5, or 6. Fruit, a 2-celled pod. 



Plant low, 2 feet tall or less. The leaves are scattered on 

 the upper part of the stem. Flowers small, single, growing in the 

 upper leaf-axils. 



32 



L. lineare has white flowers, and is a large and bushy plant, 



3 or 4 feet high. On the stem are opposite, margined angles. 

 Flowers with 6 stamens. Leaves long and narrow. 



33 



The Swamp Loosestrife [Decodon verticillatus) has small rose- 

 colored flowers, on short pedicels, clustered in the upper axils 

 of opposite or whorled, long, and narrow leaves. Tall, some- 

 times 8 feet high. These flowers are also trimorphous, with 

 stamens and pistil of different lengths. 



34. \A/ater-purslane 



Ludwigia pa/ustris. — Family, Evening Primrose. Color, 

 greenish or reddish when the plant is wholly terrestrial. 

 Leaves, opposite, small, petioled, oval, or roundish, with curv- 

 ing veins. Time, July, August. 



This is at times an aquatic plant, growing wholly in water; or 

 it IS found in swamps, its stems lying on the mud, creeping and 

 rooting. Petals, none when m water, small and reddish when 

 out. The lobes of the calyx remain, crowning the fruit, which is 

 a 4-sided capsule full of small seeds. Flowers closely sessile, 

 somewhat fleshy, small, without beauty, green and stiff. Stems 



4 to 15 inches long. 



