OKOBANCHACE.E. (BROOM-KAPE FAMILY.) 305 



ORDER 89. OROBANCHACEJE. (BROOM-RAPE FAMILY.) 



Low, leafless, scaly herbs, parasitic on roots, with bilabiate didyna- 

 mous flowers. Calyx 4 - 5-toothed or parted. Corolla \vitliering- 

 persistent, tubular, the upper lip 2-cleft or entire, the lower 3-lobed. 

 Stamens inserted on the tube of the corolla : anthers persistent. Ovary 

 free, 1-celled, with 2-4 parietal placentae. Style simple, curved at 

 the apex : stigma thick, 2-lobed. Capsule 2-valved, many-seeded. 

 Seeds very small, anatropous, with the minute embryo at the base of 

 transparent albumen. Flowers perfect or polygamous, solitary or 

 spiked. 



Synopsis. 



1. EPIPHEGUS. Flowers polygamous, spiked ; the lower ones fertile, the upper sterile. 



Calyx 2-bracted, 5-toothed. Stem branchiug. 



2. CONOPHOLIS. Flowers perfect, spiked. Calyx 2-bracted, cleft on the lower side. 



Stem simple, thick and fleshy. 



3. APHYLLON. Flowers solitary, perfect. Calyx bractless, 5-cleft. Corolla nearly 



equally 5-lobed. 



1. EPIPHEGUS, Nutt. BEECH-DROPS. 



Flowers polygamous ; the upper ones slender and sterile, the lower abbrevi- 

 ated and fertile. Calyx 5-toothed. Capsule 2-valved at the apex, with 2 

 placentae on each valve. Stem smooth, slender, much branched, purplish. 

 Flowers small, in loose slender spikes. Corolla purplish. 



1. E. Virginiana, Bart. Under beech trees, in deep shades. August. 

 Stems 6' - 12' high. Flowers scattered. Corolla of the sterile flowers 4"- 

 G" long, 4-toothed, curved. 



2. CONOPHOLIS, Wallr. SQFAW-ROOT. 



Flowers perfect, densely spiked. Calyx 2-bracted, tubular, 4-tootheil. elf ft 

 on the lower side. Upper lip of the corolla nrching, notched ; the lower short, 

 3-toothed. Stamens exserted. Capsule 2-vnlved, with 2 placentae on ea-h 

 valve. A thick and fleshy whitish simple herb, covered with imbricated 

 scales. Flowers yellowish, spreading. 



1. C. Americana, "Wnllr. Shady woods. April. Stems clustered 

 from matted roots, 4' -6' high, thick. 



3. APHYLLON, Mitchell. 



Flowers solitary, perfect. Calvx 5-cleft, bractless. Corolla tubular, curved. 

 nenrly oquallv 5-lobed. Stamens included. Capsule 2-valved, with 4 equi- 

 distant placentae. Stemless or nearly so. Flowers purplish, on a long scape 

 or peduncle. 



1. A. linifloruni, Torr. & Gray. Stem very short and scaly ; peduncles 

 1 -several, 3'- 5' high, pubescent; calyx lobes lauceolate-sulmlate. Woods. 

 Florida, and northward. 



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