HYDROPHYLLACE.E. (WATERLEAF FAMILY.) 357 



2. P. CSeruleum, L. (JACOB'S LADDER.) Stem erect (1-3 high); 

 leaflets 9-21, linear-lanceolate, oblong- or ovate-lanceolate, mostly crowded ; 

 flowers numerous, in a thyrsus or contracted panicle ; lobes of the calyx longer 

 than the tube ; stamens and stifle mostly exserted beyond the bright blue corolla, 

 which is nearly 1' broad; capsule several-seeded. Rare in our range, occur- 

 ring in swamps and on mountains in N. H., N. Y., N. J., and Md., but common 

 in the western mountains and far northward. 



ORDER 71. HYDROPHYLLACE^E. (WATERLEAF FAMILY.) 



Herbs, commonly hairy, with mostly alternate leaves, regular b-merous and 

 5-androus flowers, in aspect between the foregoing and the next order ; but 

 the ovary entire and 1-celled with '2 parietal 4 - mahy-ovuled placentce, or 

 rarely 2-celled by the. union of the placentce in the axis ; style 2-cleft, or 2 

 separate styles ; fruit a 2-valced 4 - many-seeded capsule. Seeds mostly 

 reticulated or pitted. Embryo small in copious albumen. Flowers 

 chiefly blue or white, in one-sided cymes or false racemes, which are 

 mostly bractless and coiled from the apex when young, as in the Borage 

 Family. A small order of plants of no marked properties ; some culti- 

 vated for ornament. 



Tribe I. HYDROPHYLLiE^E. Ovary and capsule 1-celled. Seeds pitted or reticu- 

 lated ; albumen cartilaginous. Leaves cut-toothed, lobed or pinnate. Style 2-cleft. 



* Ovary lined with the dilated and fleshy placentae, which enclose the ovules and seeds (in 

 our plants only 4) like an inner pericarp. 



1. Hydrophyllum. Stamens exserted ; anthers linear. Calyx unchanged iu fruit. 



2. Nemophila. Stamens included ; anthers short. Calyx with appendages at the sinuses. 



3. Ellisia. Stamens included. Calyx destitute of appendages, enlarged in fruit. 



* * Ovary with narrow parietal placentae, in fruit projecting inward more or less. 



4. Phacelia. Corolla-lobes imbricated in the bud. Calyx destitute of appendages. 

 Tribe II. HYDROUE.3S. Ovary and capsule 2-celled, the placentas often projecting 



from the axis far into the cells. Albumen fleshy. Leases entire. Styles 2. 



5. Hydrolea. Corolla between wheel-shaped and bell shaped. 



1. HYDROPHYLLUM, Tourn. WATERLEAF. 



Calyx 5-parted, sometimes with a small appendage in each sinus, early open 

 in the bud. Corolla bell-shaped, 5-cleft; the lobes convolute in the bud; the 

 tube furnished with 5 longitudinal linear appendages opposite the lobes, which 

 cohere by their middle, while their edges are folded inward, forming a necta- 

 riferous groove. Stamens and style mostly exserted ; filaments more or less 

 bearded ; anthers linear. Ovary bristly-hairy (as is usual in the family) ; th^ 

 2 fleshy placentas expanded so as to line the cell and nearly fill the cavity, soon 

 free from the walls except at the top and bottom, each bearing a pair of ovules 

 on the inner face. Capsule ripening 1-4 seeds, spherical. Perennials, with 

 petioled ample leaves, and white or pale blue cymose-clustered flowers. (Name 

 formed of vfiup, water, and <pv\\ov, leaf; of no obvious application.) 



* Calyx with minute if any appendages; rootstocks creeping, scaly-toothed. 



1. H. macroph^llum, Nutt. Rough-hairy; leaves oblong, pinnate and 

 pinnat ijid ; the divisions 9- 13, ovate, obtuse, coarsely cut-toothed ; root-leaves 



