92 KRAMEKIACE.E. (KHATANY FAMILY.) 



21. P. alba, Nutt. Stems several from a somewhat woody root, erect or 

 ascending, angular, at leugth brauclied above ; leaves linear, narrowed toward 

 the base ; spike long-peduncled, linear lanceolate, acuminate ; flowers short- 

 pedicelled ; wings oval, rather longer than the capsule ; lobes of the caruncle 

 shorter than the obloug-obovate very hairy seed. Alabama and westward. 



Stems i - 1 high. Spikes 1' - 3' long. Flowers white. Bracts deciduous. 

 22 P. leptocaulis, Torr. & Gray. Annual; stem very slender, branch- 

 ing, l-2 high; leaves \' long, scattered , linear, spikes very slender, 2'- 3' 

 long, loosely flowered; wings pale purple, elliptical-obovate, as long as 

 the oblong capsule; seeds very hairy; caruncle minute. Mississippi, and 

 westward. 



# * Leaves whorled : /lowers small, greenish or white, in slender sji/kes. 



23. P. Boykinii, Nutt. Perennial; stems numerous, angled, simple or 

 sparingly branched; leaves 4-5 in a whorl, the lower ones obloug-obovate, 

 the upper lanceolate and scattered ; spike linear, long-peduncled ; wings obo- 

 vate, as long as the capsule ; caruncle half as long as the obloug-obovate 

 curved and very hairy seed. Rich calcareous soil, Florida, Georgia, and 

 westward. May -July. %. Stems 1- 2 high. Leaves 1' long. Spikes 

 2' - 3' long. Flowers white. 



24. P. verticillata, L. Annual ; steins low, 4-angled, much branched ; 

 leaves 4 - 5 in a whorl, linear, acute, the upper ones scattered ; spikes lanceo- 

 late ; wings roundish, as long as the capsule ; lobes of the caruncle half as 

 b nig as the oblong hairy seed. Dry sandy soil. June - August. Stem 4' - 

 8' high. Spikes V- 1' long. Flowers greenish white. 



25. P. ambigua, Xutt. Very closely allied to the preceding, but taller 

 (6' -15' high), the branches erect; leaves usually broader, only the lower 

 ones verticillate ; spikes more slender, more loosely flowered ; wings white. 



Gravelly hills in the upper districts. May. 



26. P. leptOStachys, Shuttlw. Annual; stems filiform or setaceous, 

 simple, or branched above, straight; leaves 4-5 in remote whorls, narrow- 

 linear or filiform, acute ; spike linear, long-peduncled ; wings oval, nearly 

 sessile, smaller than the capsule ; caruncle half as long as the smooth curved 

 clavate-obovate seed. Dry sand hills, Florida. May -August. Stems 

 10'- 15' high. Flowers greenish. 



3. Flowers axillary, and with imperfect radical ones, as in No. 19. 



27. P. paucifolia, L. Perennial ; flowering stems erect, simple, leafy 

 at the summit ; leaves large, ovate, alternate, narrowed into a petiole, the 

 lower ones bract-like; flowers (1-3) peduncled, crested, very large; wings 

 dbovate; lobes of the caruncle subulate, varying in length; seeds haiiy; 

 radical spikes bracted. Mountains of Georgia and Carolina. May. 

 Stems 4' - 6' high, from a long prostrate base. Flowers f long, purple. 



ORDER 46. KBAMEKTACE^E. (RHATANY FAMILY.) 



Silky-pubescent herbs or shrubs, with diffuse stems, alternate 

 leaves, and irregular hypogynous purplish flowers, on axillary 2-bracted 



