46 DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 



*** Flowers in corymbs. 



13. P. ramosa Ell. : stem erect, branching, angular, corymbose at 

 the summit, many-headed ; radical leaves spathulate-obovate ; cauline 

 ones subequal, linear ; wings of the calyx oblong-ovate, cuspidate. 

 P. corymbosa Nutt. not of Mich. 



HAB. Sphagnous swamps. Del. to Flor. July, Aug. If. 

 Stem a foot high, sometimes branching from near the base. 

 Flowers in small loose heads forming a very irregular corymb, 

 yellow, dark green when dry. According to Elliott, P. corym- 

 bosa of Michaux is a distinct species, identical with P. attenuata 

 ofNuttall. 



**** Flowers axillary, (large.) 



14. P. pauciflora IVttttl. : stem simple, erect, naked below ; leaves 

 ovate, acute, smooth ; flowers mostly terminal and by threes, large, 

 cristate, sometimes axillary. 



b. alba Eights: flower solitary, smaller, white ; stem somewhat 

 leafy at base. 



HAB. Woods. Can. to Car. W. to Lake Huron. June. It. 

 Stem 34 inches high. Floirvrs large, purple, with the sum- 

 mit of the keel densely crested. Var. alba was found by Dr. 

 James Eights in the sand plains near Albany. It has the stem 

 rather lower and more leafy than in the former ; the flower also 

 is solitary, smaller, white, and the keel less densely crested. 



Flmcering Winter green. 



15. P. uniflora Mich. : herbaceous, small ; leaves broad, oval, attenu- 

 ated into a petiole ; flowers not crested, solitary, scattered, pedecillate. 



HAB. Borders of Can. Mich. This plant, which is probably a 

 native of the Northern States, has been confounded with the 

 former ; but if Michaux has described it correctly, it must be 

 distinct, as he says that the keel is not crested, and that the 

 flowers are solitary and scattered. 



ORDER XV11I. CARYOPHYLLEjE. De Cand. LincL 



Sepals 4 5, continuous with the peduncle ; either distinct 

 or cohering in a tube, persistent. Petals 4 5, hypogynous, 

 unguiculate, inserted upon the pedicel of the ovary ; occa- 

 sionally wanting. Stamens twice as many as the petals, in- 

 serted upon the pedicel of the ovary along with the petals ; 

 filaments subulate, sometimes monadelphous ; anthers innate. 

 Ovary stipitate on the apex of a pedicel (called the gyno- 

 phorus) ; stigmas 2 5, sessile, filiform, papillose on the in- 

 ner surface. Capsule 2 5 valved, either 1-celled or 2 5 

 celled, in the latter case with a loculicidal dehiscence. Pla- 

 centa in the axis of the fruit. Seeds indefinite in number, 

 rarely definite ; albumen mealy ; embryo curved round the 

 Albumen - radicle pointing to the hilura. 



