CISTACE^E. (ROCK-ROSE FAMILY.) 77 



heath-like little shrubs (seldom a foot high), covered all over with the small 

 awl-shaped or scale-like alternate persistent downy leaves, producing numerous 

 (small but showy) bright yellow flowers crowded along the upper part of the 

 branches. (Named in honor of Wm. Hudson, an early English botanist.) 



1. H. ericoid.es, L. Downy but greenish; leaves slender, awl-shaped, 

 loose ; flowers on slender naked stalks ; ovary hairy. Dry sandy soil near 

 the coast, E. Maine to Va. ; N. Cornvay, N. H. (Miss Minns.) May. 



2. H. tomentdsa, Nutt. Hoary with down ; leaves oval or narrowly 

 oblong, I" long, close-pressed and imbricated ; flowers sessile or some short- 

 peduncled. Sandy shores, Maine to Md., and along the Great Lakes to 

 Minn. ; rarely on banks of streams inland. May, June. 



3. LEG HE A, Kalm. PINWEED. 



Petals 3, narrow, flat in the bud, not longer than the calyx, withering-per- 

 sistent. Stamens 3-12. Style scarcely any; stigmas 3, plumose. Pod 

 globular, partly 3-celled ; the 3 broad and thin placentae borne on imperfect 

 partitions, each bearing 2 seeds on the face toward the valve ; in our species 

 the placentae curve backward and partly enclose the seeds. Embryo straight- 

 isli. Homely perennial herbs, with very small greenish or purplish flowers, 

 in summer. (Named in honor of John Leche, a Swedish botanist.) 

 * Pubescence villous, spreading; leaves oblong ; flowers very short-pedicelled in 



cymulose clusters. 



1. L. major, Michx. Stem upright (1-2 high), stout, simple, very 

 leafv, producing slender prostrate branches from the base ; leaves elliptical, 

 mucronate-pointed, alternate and opposite or sometimes whorled ; flowers 

 densely crowded; pedicels shorter than the very small depressed-globose pod; 

 sepals narrower than its valves. Sterile grounds ; common, especially south- 

 ward. 



* * Pubescence oppressed , leaves narrower ; floircrs paniculate. 



- Leaves comparatively short, broad, and thin : panicles leaf'/. 



2. L. thymifdlia, Michx. Erect, about 2 high; stem-leaves oval or 

 oblong (3-6" long), commonly somewhat hairy, some whorled or opposite, 

 those of the rather crowded panicles more linear ; pod obovate-globose, one of 

 the narrow outer sepals often longer. (L. Novje-Casarese, Austin.) Dry 

 grounds near the coast, E. Mass, to Fla. 



-i- 1- Leaves firmer, narrow, the cauline linear to slender-subulate ; panicles more 



naked and racemiform. 

 ++ Fruiting calyx globular or broadly ovoid ; pod rather large, nearly globose. 



3. L. minor, L. Rather strict, 1 high or more, usually glabrate in age; 

 leaves of radical shoots lanceolate, rigid, 2-3" long, the cauline linear, 6-9" 

 long; pod about 1" high. Dry and sterile ground; common. 



Var. maritima, Gray in herb. Stouter and more rigid ; leaves of radical 

 shoots thicker, linear, hoary, the cauline puberulent or glabrous ; calyx canes- 

 cent. (L. thymifolia, Pursh.; L. maritima, Ley/jttt.) Sandy soil near the 

 coast, Mass, to Ga. 



4. L. tenuifolia, Michx. Low, slender and diffuse, minutely pubescent 

 or glabrous ; leaves all small and very narrow ; flowers mostly on very short 



