LINACEAE 661 



the lateral pair on each side united, deciduous. Keceptacle without glands. 

 Androecium of 5 perfect stamens. Filaments appendaged and partially united. 

 Anthers more or less united or converging. Gynoecium of 5 united carpels. 

 Ovary 5-celled, somewhat elongated. Styles very short or wanting. Stigmas 5. 

 Ovules several in each cavity. Fruit a more or less elongated capsule, with 

 elastically bursting and coiling valves. Seeds ribbed. Endosperm wanting. 

 Embryo with nearly flat cotyledons. 



1. IMPATIENS L. 



Herbs, with commonly pellucid watery stems. Leaves alternate or opposite : blades 

 mostly toothed : petioles without stipules, or these represented by glands. Flowers of 

 various colors, often mottled, solitary or several on axillary peduncles. Sepals mostly 3, 

 imbricated, the two lateral ones flat, the lower one spurred or saccate. Petals mostly 5, 

 the lateral pair on each side united. Stamens 5 : filaments very short, each furnished 

 with a scale : anthers often cohering to the pistil, introrse. Ovary elongated, 5-celled : 

 stigma sessile, 5-lobed. Ovules numerous in each cavity, in 1 series. Capsules various, 

 loculicidally opening by the elastic valves. Seeds numerous, 4-ribbed, with a glabrous or 

 pubescent testa. Embryo straight. TOUCH-ME-NOT. 



Flowers orange : saccate sepal contracted into a spur one-half as long as the body. 1. I. Uflora. 



Flowers pale yellow : saccate sepal contracted into a spur $ or as long as the body. 2. L aurea. 



1. Impatiens biflora Walt. Foliage deep green. Stem at length much branched, 

 1-2 m. tall, enlarged at the nodes : leaf-blades ovate or elliptic, 2-12 cm. long, obtuse or 

 acutish, distantly and shallowly crenate, somewhat obliquely narrowed at the base into a 

 slender petiole which is - as long as the blade : flowers orange, with reddish brown 

 spots, or rarely white, loosely panicled and gracefully pendulous from the slender pedicels : 

 saccate sepal conic, longer than broad, 1.7-2.4 cm. long, gradually prolonged into a slender 

 incurved spur about as long as the body. [/. fulva Nutt. ?] 



In moist soil, Nova Scotia to Oregon, Florida and Missouri. Summer to fall. 



2. Impatiens aurea Muhl. Foliage glaucescent. Stems 1-2 m. tall, swollen at the 

 nodes, finally much branched : leaf-blades oval, ovate or elliptic, 2 cm. long, obtuse or 

 apiculate, coarsely crenate-serrate, narrowed into short petioles $-$ as long as the blade : 

 flowers pale yellow, often slightly mottled, loosely panicled, gracefully pendant from 

 slender scaly pedicels : saccate sepal cup-like, about as broad as long, 1.5-2 cm. long, 

 abruptly contracted into a short deflexed spur, - as long as the body. [/. pallida Nutt.] 



In shaded places, Quebec to Oregon, Georgia and Kansas. Summer. 



FAMILY 3. LINACEAE Dumort. FLAX FAMILY. 



Herbs or shrubby plants, usually caulescent and branching. Leaves alter- 

 nate or opposite, without stipules : blades narrow, commonly sessile. Flowers 

 perfect, regular and usually symmetrical, solitary in the axils or in terminal 

 racemes, or paniculate or corymbose cymes. Calyx of 4-6 imbricated persistent 

 or deciduous sepals. Corolla of 4-6 imbricated generally convolute petals, ephem- 

 eral. Androecium of as many stamens as there are [petals and alternate with 

 them. Filaments monadelphous at the base. Anthers 2-celled, versatile. 

 Gynoecium 2-5 united carpels. Ovary 2-5-celled or by false partitions 4-10- 

 celled. Styles 2-5, distinct, at least above. Ovules 1 or 2 in each cavity. 

 Fruit capsular. Seeds 1 or 2 in each cavity, oily. Endosperm little or want- 

 ing. Embryo with flat cotyledons. 



1. LINUM L. 



Herbs or sometimes shrubby plants, with a tough bark. Leaves alternate or opposite : 

 blades narrow, erect or spreading, entire. Flowers commonly yellow or blue, variously 

 disposed. Sepals 5, entire, eroded or glandular-toothed or sometimes strongly ciliate. 

 Petals 5, convolute, fugacious. Stamens 5, often alternating with as many small stami- 

 nodia : filaments distinct or united to near the apex. Glands 5, adnate to the outside of the 

 filament-tube. Ovary 5-celled, or rarely 2-celled, each cavity with a false partition. , 

 Styles 5, or rarely 2, distinct or united. Stigmas small. Ovules 2 in each cavity. Cap- 



