Cuphea.| LYTHRACEAE. 131 
1. LYTHRUM, L. 
Calyx-tube cylindrical, 8—12-ribbed, straight, with 4—6 small broadish 
and as many accessory pointed, erect, or t agen teeth. Petals 4—6, 
obovate, scarcely unguiculate, occasionally no Sta 8 6—12, inserted 
below the middle of the calyx-tube. rte pa cbliibe: 2-celled. Style 
filiform, with a capitate stigma. Ovules many, on thick axile placentas. 
gm 
Capsule enclosed, membranous, often satire vid Pp 1-celled, septicidal or 
opening irregularly. Seeds many, plano-convex or angular. Cotyledons 
es cs Meat: at the base, the radicle conical. — Herbs or under- 
eS ete and opposite entire leaves, Flowers 
ely, on ary 0 
mall genus, sieiacaie ees the temperate regions of both Worlds. 
1. L. maritimum, H. B. & Kunth. — DC. . Hl, 82. — A low 
prostrate perennial with often a woody base, ae * in length, glabrous, 
much branched. Leaves linear-oblong or lanceolate, 9—15“ long, on very 
short petioles, acute, obtuse at the base. Flowers single, on short bi- 
bracteolate peduncles of 1—1'/2". Calyx-tube 3“ long, with 12 ribs and 
6 membranous deltoid teeth, the 6 accessory teeth more than twice as 
, en 
globose stigma. Capsule about 3/s the length of the calyx, 2-celled, the 
seeds numerous, minute, obconical, angular. Bracts subulate. — Hook. & 
Arn. in Bot. Beech. p. 82. — Gray, Bot. U. 8. E. E. p. 606. 
On allislands, in open forests or on grass land, between sxe and 3000 ft. of elevation. 
Is also a native of Peru, where it is said to grow near the se 
2. CUPHEA, P. Br. 
Calyx tubular, 12-ribbed, gibbous or spurred at the base, with 6 primary 
teeth, the accessory teeth as many and small or none. Petals aaron 6, 
unguiculate, the 2 posterior larger. Stamens 11, short, unequal, 
at different heights near its throat of the calyx. Ovary — 2- Zeal 
with a basilar gland on the upper side, 2- to several-ovuled, 
raised on funicles ascending —_ an axile placenta. Style OM won 
capitate, 2-lobed. Capsule membranous, enclosed, spuriously 1-celled, with 
free + 
: r 
or low shrubs with terete branches, generally viscous. Leaves mostly 
ee or whorled, entire. Peduncles inter- aguas 1- to several-flowered. 
large genus of tropical and subtropical Ameri 
fa C. hyssopifolia, H. B. d Kunth. — DC. Prod. III, 87. — Stem 
erect, about 1 ft. high, scabrous, and hispid with patent vis- 
cous hairs. Leayes opposite, ovato- or elliptico-oblong, 1—2’  ' fe—3/a", 
entire or faintly crenate, acuminate or obtuse, contracting at the base 
; 9° 
