398 AMAKANTACE.E. (AMAKAXTH FAMILY.) 



3. SIPHONYCHIA, Torr. & Gray. 



Sepals 5, united to the middle, coiicave and petal-like above, obtuse or mu- 

 cronate. Stamens inserted on the throat of the calyx. Style slender, 2-cleft. 

 Utricle included. Seed resupinate. Radicle superior. Erect or diffusely 

 prostrate herbs. Cymes dense-flowered. Flowers white. 



1. S. Americana, Torr. & Gray. Stems prostrate, diffuse, pubescent in 

 lines ; leaves lanceolate, narrowed at the base ; the radical ones larger and 

 crowded ; flowers obovate, solitary in the forks of the stem, and clustered at 

 the end of the branches ; sepals rounded and incurved at the apex, the tube 

 bristly with hooked hairs. Sandy soil, Florida to South Carolina, and west- 

 ward. June -Oct. (T) or @ Stems 1- 2 long. Stipules small. 



2. S. diffusa, Chapm. Pubescent; stems prostrate, diffusely branched ; 

 leaves lanceolate, obtuse ; flowers in compact, rectangular terminal cymes ; 

 sepals linear, slightly concave and mucrouate at the apex, the tube bristly 

 with hooked hairs. Dry sandy pine barrens, Florida. June Oct. (l) 

 Stems 1 long. Stipules conspicuous, on young plants half as long as the 

 leaves, at length 2-parted. Cymes very numerous. 



3. S. erecta, Chapm. Stems smooth, clustered, erect, mostly simple ; 

 leaves erect, linear ; those of the barren stems imbricated ; cyme compound, 

 rectangular, compact ; sepals lanceolate, smooth, acutish, or obscurely mucro- 

 nate at the apex, the tube smooth and furrowed. Sands along the west coast 

 of Florida. June -Nov. 2/ Root woody. Stems 6' -12' high. Stipules 

 half as long as the leaves. 



ORDER 108. AMARANTACE^E. (AMARANTH FAMILY.) 



Chiefly herbs, with simple exstipulate leaves, and inconspicuous 

 scarious-bracted flowers, which are commonly crowded in spikes or 

 heads. Sepals 3-5, free, or united at the base, imbricated in the 

 bud. Stamens 3-5, hypogynous, opposite the sepals, free, or united 

 below, often with sterile filaments interposed : anthers 1 - 2-celled, 

 introrse. Ovary single, ovate, 1-many-ovuled. Stigmas 1-5. Utri- 

 cle closed or circumscissile. Embryo coiled into a ring around the 



central albumen. 



Synopsis. 



TRIBE I. CEtOSIE IE. Anthers 2-celled. Ovary many-ovuled. 

 1. CELOSIA. Stamens united at the base. Utricle circumscissile. 



TRIBE II. ACHYRANTHE^E. Anthers 2-celled. Ovary 1-ovuled. Leaves alter- 

 nate. Stamens free. Sterile filaments none. 



* Utricle circumscissile. 

 '2. AMARANTUS. Flowers monoecious. Sepals 3 -5. 



* * Utricle indehiscent. 



3. EUXOLUS. Flowers all alike, monoecious, sessile. Sepals 3 -5. 



4. AMBLOGYNA. Flowers monoecious. Calyx of the staminate flower 3-sepalous, of the 



pistillate flower 5-parted, funnel-shaped. 



5. SCLEROPUS. Flowers monoecious. Sepals 5. Stamens 3. Fruiting pedicels indu- 



rated and deciduous with the fruit. 



