ACANTHACE^E. 285 



HAB. Shady woods. Can. to Car. July. If.. Stem% 3 feet 

 high. Leaves large. Spikes on long slender peduncles. Flowers 

 small, opposite, purplish. Calyx reflected downwards when in 

 fruit. Lopseed. 



ORDER XCII. ACANTHACE7E. Juss. Lind. 



Calyx 4 or 5-divided, rarely either multifid or entire and 

 obsolete, persistent. Carol mostly irregular, with the limb 

 ringent or bilabiate, or occasionally 1-lipped, sometimes near- 

 ly equal, deciduous. Stamens mostly 2, sometimes with 2 3 

 shorter ones ; anthers 1 2-celled, bursting longitudinally. 

 Ovary seated in the disk, 2-celled ; ovules 2 or many in each 

 cell ; style 1 ; stigma 2-lobed or entire ; placenta in the axis, 

 Capsule 2-celled, bursting elasticall'y with 2 valves. Seeds 2 

 or many in each cell, or by abortion solitary, ascending, usu- 

 ally subtended by rigid subulate processes from the dissepi- 

 ment ; albumen none ; embryo curved or straight ; radicle cy- 

 lindrical, descending, next the hilum ; cotyledons large, folm- 

 ceous. 



Herbs or shrubs. Leaves opposite, without stipules, 



1. JUSTICIA. Linn. 



Calyx 5-parted, often with 2 bracts at the base. Corol ir- 

 regular, bilabiate ; upper lip^ emarginate ; the lower 3-cIeft. 

 Filaments 2, each with a single or double anther. Stigma 1. 

 Capsule attenuated, 2-celled, 2-valved ; dissepiment growing 

 from the centre of each valve. Diandria. Monogynia. 



J. pedunculosa Mich. : spikes axillary ; peduncles elongated, alter- 

 nate ; flowers crowded ; leaves lanceolate. /. americana Valil. J. li- 

 nearifolia Lam. Dianthera americana Linn. 



HAB. In water. Can. to Car. W. to Miss. July, Aug. If. 

 Root creeping. Stem 2 feet high. Leaves nearly 6 inches long, 

 narrow-lanceolate. Flowers on axillary peduncles which are 

 nearly as long as the leaves, pale purple. 



2. RUELLIA. Linn. 



Calyx 5-parted, often bibracteate. Corol subcampanulate, 

 border 5-lobed. Stamens approximating by pairs. Capsule 

 attenuated at either extremity, bursting with elastic teeth. 

 Seeds few. Didynamia. Angiospermia. 



R. strepens Linn. : erect, hairy ; leaves on petioles, opposite, lance- 

 olate-ovate, entire ; peduncles 1 3-flowered ; segments of the calyx 

 linear-lanceolate, very acute, hispid, shorter than the tube of the corol. 



