364 ACANTHACE.E. (ACANTHUS FAMILY.) 



the capsule, without appendages. Low herbs. Leaves all radical, clustered. 

 Scape covered with alternate imbricated bracts. Flowers spiked, 2-bracted. 



1. E. virgata, Michx. Leaves oval or oblong, narrowed downward; 

 bracts rigid, lanceolate, acuminate, clasping; corolla white, salver-shaped, the 

 lobes nearly equal; capsule cylindrical. Low ground, Florida to South Car- 

 olina. August. 1J. Scapes 6'- 12' high. Leaves 2' -4' long. Spikes 

 rarely clustered. 



2. HYGROPHILA, R. Br. 



Calyx equally 4-cleft. Corolla 2-lipped, the lower lip 3-lobed. Stamens 4, 

 didynamous: anther cells parallel, spreading at the base. Stigma simple. 

 Capsule narrow, nearly terete, bearing the numerous orbicular seeds at its 

 base. Aquatic herbs. Flowers axillary, in cymose clusters. 



1. H. lacustris, Nees. Stem long (2 -4), erect from a procumbent 

 base, 4-angled ; leaves sessile, lanceolate ; cymes opposite, few-flowered ; calyx 

 smooth ; flowers white. Muddy banks of rivers, Florida, and westward. 



3. RUELLIA, Plum. 



Calyx 2-bracted, 5-parted, with linear or bristle-like lobes. Corolla funnel- 

 shaped, 5-lobed ; the lobes equal, rounded. Stamens 4, didynamous, included : 

 anthers sagittate. Style simple, or 2-cleft at the apex. Capsule narrowed 

 below the middle, flattened contrary to the partition, 8-12-seeded. Seeds 

 borne above the middle, supported by curved appendages of the placentae. 

 Perennial herbs, with tumid joints, entire opposite leaves, and axillary soli- 

 tary or clustered nearly sessile flowers. Corolla white, blue, or purple, 

 nocturnal. 



1. R. ciliosa, Pursh. Stem simple or branched, pubescent, 1- 2 high; 

 leaves sessile or short-petioled, ovate, oblong, or wedge-shaped, denticulate or 

 entire, l'-5' long, long-ciliate ; flowers single or clustered; calyx lobes fili- 

 form or setaceous, ciliate, mostly shorter than the tube of the corolla. Dry 

 soil. March-Sept. Corolla blue, l'-2' long. Very variable; the ex- 

 tremes are a low (V - 12' high) villous form of the lower districts, with obovate 

 or wedge-shaped obtuse sessile leaves, and a taller and smoother mountain 

 form, with larger (3' -5' long) ovate-oblong short-petioled leaves, resembling 

 the next. 



2. R. strepens, L. Stem smooth or puberulent, 1- 3 high, leaves ob- 

 long or ovate-oblong, short-petioled, 3' - 6' long ; earliest flowers single, with 

 a large (2' long) blue corolla, the later cleistogamous, clustered ; calyx lobes 

 linear-lanceolate, mostly shorter than the tube of the corolla. Dry soil chiefly 

 in the upper districts. May - Sept. 



3. R. noctiflora, Gray. Closely pubescent ; stem simple, rigid ; leaves 

 oblong or lanceolate, sessile, entire or slightly toothed ; flowers solitarv, pedun- 

 cled ; corolla large ; the elongated tube twice as long as the linear hairy calyx 

 lobes ; capsule pubescent. Low grassy pine barrens, Florida, Georgia, and 

 westward. Jnly - August. Stem 1 high. Corolla 2' - 4' long, white. 



