ONAGRACE^i. (EVENING-i'UEUK JSE l-'AMILY.) 133 



« Leaves alternate, sessile : flowers pedunekd : petals yellow, about equalling the calyx. 



1. L.. alterilifoiia, L. (Seed-box.) Smooth or nearly so, branched 

 (3° high) ; leaves lanceolate, eicute or pointed at both ends; pods cubical, rounded 

 at the base, wing-angled. — Swamps ; common southward and near the coast. 

 Aug. — Pods opening first by a hole at the end where the style falls off, after- 

 wards splitting in pieces. 



2. Li. tlirtclla, Raf. Hairy all over ; stems nearly simple (1°- 2° high) ; 

 leaves ovate-oblong, or the upper lanceolate, blunt at both ends; pods nearly as in 

 the last, but scarcely wing-angled. — Moist pine ban-ens, New Jersey to Virginia, 

 and southward. Jane - Sept. 



# * Leaves alternate, sessile : flowers sessile : petals minute or none. 



3. Li. splice rocdrpa, Ell. Nearly smooth, much branched (l°-3° 

 high); leaves lanceolate, acute, tapering at the base; flowers solitary, without 

 bracllets ; petals mostly wanting ; pods globular, not longer than the calyx-lobes, very 

 small. — Wet swamps, Massachusetts (Tewksbury, Greene), New York (Peeks- 

 kill, R. I. Browne), New Jersey, and thence southward: also Illinois. 



4. Li. polyciarpa, Short & Peter. Smooth, much branched ; leaves 

 narrowly lanceolate, acute at both ends ; flowers oflen clustered in the axils, with- 

 out petals ; bractlets on the base of the 4-sided top-shaped pod, which is longer than 

 the calyx-lobes. — Swamps, Michigan to Illinois and Kentucky. Aug. — Stem 

 !° -3° high, sometimes with runners. 



5. Li. linearis, Walt. Smooth, slender (1° high), often branched, with 

 naiTow lanceolate or linear leaves ; bearing short runners with obovato leaves ; 

 flowers solitary, usually with (greenish-yellow) petals ; bracllets minute ; pods elon- 

 gated top-slui pud, 4-sided, much longer than the calyx. — Bogs, pine barrens of New 

 Jersey and southward. Aug. 



* * # Leaves opposite, petioled: flowers sessile : petals none or small. ( Isnardia, L.) 



6. JL. paSi'istl'iS, Ell. (Water Purslane.) Smooth, low; stems pro- 

 cumbent, rooting or Boating ; leaves ovate or oval, tapering into a slender peti- 

 ole ; calyx-lobes very short ; pods oblong, 4-sided, not tapering at the base. 

 (Isnardia palustris, L.) — Ditches, common. July-Oct. — Petals rarely pres- 

 ent, small and reddish when the plant grows out of water. (Eu.) 



* * * # Leaves opposite, sessile: flowers lo»g-peduncled : petals exceeding the calyx. 



7. Li. areuata, Walt. Smooth, small and creeping ; leaves oblanceo- 

 late; flowers solitary, yellow (h' broad); peduncles |*-1' long; pods oblong- 

 club-shaped somewhat curved ($' long). — Swamps, Eastern Virginia and south- 

 ward. May. 



6. CIRC J1A, Tourn. Enchanter's Nightshade. 



Calyx-tube slightly prolonged, the end filled by a cup-shaped disk, deciduous ; 

 lobes 2, reflexed. Petals 2, inversely heart-shaped. Stamens 2. Pod obovate, 

 . -2-celled, bristly with hooked hairs : cells 1-seeded. — Low and inconspicuous 

 perennials, with opposite thin leaves on slender petioles, and small wnitish 

 flowers in racemes. (Named from Circe, the enchantress.) 



