PUNICACEAE 829 



fluted, slightly expanding above the middle : sepals triangular, acute, the accessory teeth 

 subulate, surpassing the sepals, conspicuous : petals 6, deep or violet-purple, obovate or 

 cuneate-obovate, slightly crisped, rounded at the apex : stamens 6 : capsules oblong, about 

 as long as the hypanthium. 



In swamps and along streams, Ontario to Minnesota, Kentucky and Arkansas. Summer and fall. 



8. FARSONSIA P. Br. 



Herbs or shubby plants, usually with a clammy pubescence. Stems terete or nearly so. 

 Leaves opposite or whorled, or rarely alternate : blades entire. Flowers of various colors, 

 irregular. Hypanthium elongated, saccate or spurred at the base, more or less oblique at 

 the mouth, many-ribbed. Sepals 6, augmented by as many narrow teeth at their sinuses, 

 or these sometimes wanting. Petals 6, unequal, clawed. Stamens 11 or 12, filaments 

 short. Ovary unequally 2-celled, sessile or obliquely stalked : style filiform : stigma 2- 

 lobed. Capsule oblong, included, 1-celled, thin-membranous, sometimes oblique. Seeds 

 flattened. Testa leathery. Embryo with orbicular cotyledons. [Cuphea P. Br.] 



Hypanthium over 1.5 cm. long : corolla with the upper petals fully 10 mm. long. 1. P. procumbens. 



Hypanthium less than 1.5 cm. long : corolla with the upper petals less than 10 mm. long. 



Pedicels 1-2 mm. long : leaf-blades manifestly petioled : plants annual. 2. P. petiolata. 



Pedicels 10-18 mm. long : leaf-blades sessile or nearly so : plants perennial. 3. P. lythroides. 



1. Farsonsia procumbens (Cav. ) Small. Perennial, hispid with clammy hairs. 

 Stems much branched, the branches decumbent or prostrate, 2-10 dm. long, obscurely 4- 

 angled : leaf-blades lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 2-6 cm. long, acute or acutish, spar- 

 ingly ciliate, narrowed or truncate at the sometimes oblique base, short-petioled : hypan- 

 thium about 2 mm. long, bristly, spurred at the base, flaring at the throat : sepals broadly 

 triangular except the half-orbicular upper one, the accessory teeth gland-like, often bristly: 

 corolla showy : petals purple, clawed, the 4 lower ones cuneate-spatulate, the 2 upper with 

 broadly oblong blades : capsule oblong, about 1 cm. long. [ Cuphea procumbens Cav. ] 



In waste places, western North Carolina. Introduced from Mexico. Summer and fall. 



2. Farsonsia petiolata (L.) Kusby. Annual, deep green, the foliage, except the leaf- 

 blades, clammy pubescent. Stems erect, 1-7 dm. tall, branched above, the branches ascend- 

 ing: leaf -blades ciliate, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 1-4.5 cm. long, rather obtuse but 

 often somewhat acuminate, cuneately narrowed at the more or less oblique base ; petioles 

 0.5-2 cm. long : pedicels 1-3 mm. long : hypanthium tubular, 10-15 mm. long, bristly, 

 becoming more or less swollen at the middle, spurred at the base : sepals triangular, acute, 

 the accessory teeth small, blunt : petals violet-purple, unequal, elliptic, oval or broadly 

 obovate, rounded or retuse at the apex : stamens 12, included : capsule oblong, 8-9 mm. 

 long, very thin : seeds lenticular, about 3 mm. broad. [Cuphea viscosissima Jacq.] 



In dry rocky soil or on hillsides, Rhode Island to Ontario, Kansas, Georgia and Louisiana. Summer 

 and fall. TAR-WEED. WAX-WEED. 



3. Parsonsia lythroides Small. Perennial by a woody rootstock, the roots tuberous. 

 Stems erect or assurgent, 2-6 dm. tall, simple or sparingly branched, hispid with clammy 

 hairs : leaf-blades oblong or elliptic, in whorls of 3's or 4's, 1-2 cm. long, acute or acutish, 

 sessile, or nearly so : pedicel longer than the hypanthium, clammy : hypanthium tubular, 

 8-10 mm. long, somewhat expanded toward the throat, bent, spurred at the base, spiny- 

 pubescent except near the top: sepals triangular, except the somewhat reniform upper 

 one, acute, the accessory teeth subulate : petals white or pale purple, spatulate, 5-6 mm. 

 long, obtuse. [Cuphea aspera Chapm., not Willd.] 



In low pine lands, western Florida. Spring and summer. 



FAMILY 3. PUNICACEAE Horan. POMEGRANATE FAMILY. 



Shrubs or small trees, with terete branches. Leaves opposite or nearly so, 

 sometimes clustered : blades entire. Flowers perfect, showy, solitary or clustered 

 in the axils, short-peduncled. Hypanthium leathery, turbinate, adnate to the 

 ovary. Sepals 5-7, ascending. Corolla of 5-7 petals inserted at the throat of 

 the hypanthium, wrinkled. Androecium of numerous stamens in many series 

 on the hypanthium. Filaments filiform. Anthers versatile. Gynoecium of 

 several united carpels. Ovary several-celled, inferior. Styles united. Stigma 

 slightly lobed. Ovules numerous, superposed in 2 series. Fruit a several-celled 

 berry crowned with the calyx, with a leathery coat, its septa membranous. Seeds 

 angled, in a watery pulp, with a leathery testa. Embryo with spirally convolute 

 cotyledons, each auricled at the base. 



