CUCURBITACE^E. 117 



of the calyx, with a twisted aestivation. Stamens as many or 

 twice as many as the petals ; anthers long. Ovary 3 6 -celled ; 

 style 1 ; stigma simple. Fruit capsular or baccate. Seeds very 

 numerous, without albumen. Herbs, trees or shrubs, with op- 

 posite mostly entire leaves. Flowers terminal, solitary or cy- 

 mose. 



RHEXIA. Linn. Rhexia. 

 (A Greek name said to have been originally applied to a different plant.) 



Calyx with the tube ventricose-ovate at base, narrowed at the 

 apex ; the limb 4-cleft. Petals 4, obovate. Anthers 8, at- 

 tached to the filaments behind, naked at base. Capsule free in 

 the calyx, 4-celled. Seeds cochleate. 



1. R. Mariana Linn.: very hairy ; leaves linear-ohlong or lanceolate, 

 acute at each end, sparingly hispid on both sides, ciliate-serrulate ; calyx 

 hispid. 



Wet grounds. N. J. to Flor. and Louis. July, Aug. 7J.. Stem I 2 feet 

 high, slender. Petals obovate, hairy on the outer surface, purple. 



Maryland Rhexia. 



2. R. ciliosa Mich : stem nearly square, smooth; leaves broad-ovate, 

 subpetiolate, serrulate, ciliate, 3-nerved, smooth beneath, slightly hispid 

 above ; flowers with an involucre ; calyx smooth. R. petiolata Walt. 



Moist pine barrens. Del. to Flor. July. T| Stem 1218 inches high. 

 Flowers in a loose diohotomous panicle, large, purple, with an involucre of 

 leaves at the base of each. Fringed Rhexia. 



3. R. Virginica Linn. : stem with winged angles, somewhat hairy, 

 square ; leaves sessile, ovate-lanceolate, ciliate, serrate, sprinkled with 

 hairs on both sides ; calyx hispid. 



Wet meadows. Mas*, and N. Y. to Louis, and Ark. July Sept. f l\.. 

 Stem a foot high, often dichotomously branched above. Leaves 5 7-nerved, 

 almost naked beneath. Flowers large, purple, in a dichotomous corymb. 



Deer Grass. 



ORDER XLIX. CUCURBITACE^E. CUCURBITS. 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Calyx 5-toothed, some- 

 times obsolete. Corolla 5 -parted, scarcely distinguishable from 

 the calyx, with strongly marked reticulated veins. Stamens 5, 

 distinct, or cohering in 2 or 3 parcels ; anthers sinuous. Ovary 

 adherent, 1 -celled ; style short ; stigma very thick, velvety or 

 fringed. Fruit more or less succulent (a pepo). Seeds flat, 

 often arillate, without albumen. Succulent herbaceous plants, 

 climbing by tendrils. Leaves alternate, palmately veined. 

 Flowers axillary. 



