150 LOOSESTRIFE FAMILY. 



■*- Flower regular or nearly so : pod many-seeded, included in the calyx. 



3. NESiEA. Calyx short bell-shaped or hemispherical. Stamens 10-14, twice 



as mfany as the petals, in 2 sets, with long projecting filaments. Style slen- 

 der. Pod globular, 3 -5-celled. Leaves mostlj' whorled in threes or opposite. 



4. LYTHRUM. Calyx cylindrical, 8- 12-ribbed or striate. Petals 5-7. Stamens 



5-14. Style slender. Pod oblong, 2-celled. Leaves sessile. 



6. AMMANNIA. Calyx short, 4-angled. Petals 4 and small, or none. Stamens 

 4, short. Pod globular, 2 - 4-celled. Leaves opposite, narrow. 

 H- -1- Flower irregular : pod mostly few-seeded. 



6. CUPHEA. Calyx elongated, mostly many-ribbed, gibbous, spurred, or with a 

 sac-like projection at base on the upper side, oblique at the mouth, which 

 has 6 proper teeth, and usually as many intermediate accessory ones or pro- 

 cesses. Petals mostly 6, with claws, and very unequal, the two upper ones 

 larger; sometimes all or part wanting. Stamens 11 or 12, unequal: filaments 

 short. A gland at the base of the ovary on the upper side. Style slender: 

 stigma 2-lobed. Ovary flat, 2-celled, but one cell smaller and sterile or 

 empty. Pod enclosed in the calyx, and bursting through it on the lower 

 side; the placenta bearing a few flat seeds, hardening, curving, and at length 

 projecting through the rupture. 



1. PIJNICA, POMEGRANATE. (The name mems Carthaginian.) 



P. Gran^tum. Tree cult, from the Orient, as a house-plant N. : smooth, 

 with small oblong or obovate obtuse leaves, either opposite or scattei'ed, mostly 

 clustered on short branchlets ; the flowers short-stalked, usually solitary, large, 

 both calyx and corolla bright scarlet, with 5-7 petals, or full double ; the fruit 

 as large as a small apple. 



2. LAGERSTRCEMIA, CRAPE-MYRTLE. (Named for a Swedish 



naturalist, Laxjer strain.) 



L. Indica, from E. Indies : planted for ornament S., and in conserva- 

 tories N. : shrub with smooth ovate or oval opposite leaves, and panicles of verj 

 showy pale rose or flesh-colored large flowers, remarkable for the wavy-crisped 

 petals and long silky-tufted stamens. 



3. NES^A. (Name from Greek for insular, from the habitation of the 

 original species.) 2/ 



!N. vertieill^ta. Common E. and S. in very wet places ; smooth or 

 minutely downy, with long recurving branches (2° -8° long), lanceolate leaves, 

 mostly in threes, the upper with clustered short-stalked flowers in their axils, 

 5 wedge-lanceolate rose-purple petals, and 10 stamens of two lengths. 



N. salicif61ia. Cult, from Mexico, not hardy N. ; low, slightly shrubby 

 at base, smooth, erect, with lance-oblong or oblanceolate leaves, the upper ones 

 sometimes alternate, almost sessile flowers in their axils, with mostly 6 obovate 

 yellow petals, and 12 stamens of almost equal length. 



4. LYTHRUM, LOOSESTRIFE. (Name in Greek for blood: some have 

 red flowers.) Fl. summer. 



L. Salic^ria, Spiked L. Sparingly wild N. E. in wet meadows, and 

 cult. ; with stems 2° - 3° high, leaves broad-lanceolate, and often with a heart- 

 shaped base, in pairs or threes ; flowers crowded in their axils and forming a 

 wand-like spike, rather large, with 6 or rarely 7 lance-oblong pink petals, and 

 twice as many stamens of two lengths. Jl 



Ij. alktum. Low grounds W. & S. : nearly smooth, slender, 2° -3° high, 

 above and on the branches with margined angles, very leafy ; the small leaves 

 oblong, the uppermost not longer than the small flowers in their axils ; petals 

 6, purple ; stamens 6. 21 



5. AMMANNIA. (Named for Ammann, an early German botanist.) 

 Low, insignificant herbs, in wet places, especially S., with small greenish 

 flowers in the axils of the narrow leaves ; the inconspicuous petals purplish, 

 or none : fl. all summer. 



