FRANKENIACEAE 319 



Sterns stout, branched, erect 1. A. Theophrastii. 



Steins slender, spreading or trailing . . . . . . . 2. A. parvulum. 



1. Abutilon Theophrastii Medic. Malv. 28. 1787. Velvety pubescent an- 

 nual, 8-15 dm. tall, freely branched: leaves roundish-cordate, acuminate, 8-20 

 cm. broad: flowers solitary in the axils, yellow, 1-2 cm. broad, on short 

 stout peduncles: fruit about 2 cm. broad; the carpels 12-15, pubescent, each 

 valve beaked by a slender awn. [.4. Abutilon (L.) Rusby; A. Avicennae 

 Gaertn.] Only sparingly introduced but gradually spreading as a weed here 

 as it has elsewhere. 



2. Abutilon parvulum Gray, PI. Wright. 1: 21. 1852. Cinereous-tomentose 

 with a lax minute pubescence: stems slender, spreading, from a perennial 

 woody root, paniculate above; branchlets pilose with spreading hairs: leaves 

 small, 2-3 cm. broad, cordate, dentate, sometimes 3-lobed, usually obtuse, 

 canescent, tomentose beneath: peduncles axillary, 1-flowered, longer than the 

 leaf: flowers small, yellow: capsule ovoid, somewhat tomentose, 5-lobed at 

 the apex, much longer than the short calyx; carpels erect, 5, rather obtuse, 

 awnless, 2-3-seeded. Southern Colorado and southward. 



73. ELATINACEAE Lindl. WATERWORT FAMILY 



Ours are low annuals, with membranous stipules between the opposite dot- 

 less leaves, and with regular and mostly symmetrical flowers (2-5-merous). 

 Sepals free. Petals and stamens on the receptacle. Pistil with distinct styles, 

 capitate stigmas, and a 2-5-celled ovary. Fruit capsular, with axillary pla- 

 centa. ^ 

 1. ELATINE L. WATERWORT 



Small, prostrate, glabrous plants, growing in water or wet places, with entire 

 leaves and usually solitary flowers. Parts of the flower in twos or threes. 

 Sepals membranous, obtuse. Capsules membranous, globose. Seeds nu- 

 merous, transversely and longitudinally striate. 



1. Elatine americana (Pursh) Arn. Edinb. Journ. Sci. 1: 430. 1830. 

 Leaves obovate. very obtuse: flowers with their parts in twos or sometimes in 

 threes: seeds cylindraceous, somewhat curved, the membranous coat many- 

 latticed in 9-10 lines. Across the continent; infrequent. 



74. FRANKENIACEAE A. St. Hil. 



Low perennial herbs or shrubs, freely branched, with opposite leaves hav- 

 ing a membranous sheathing base and no stipules. Flowers sessile in the axils 

 and in terminal leafy buds. Sepals 5, united into a furrowed tube, persistent, 

 equal. Petals 5. Stamens as many or sometimes more; anthers versatile. 

 Ovary 1-celled, with 2-3 parietal placentae; styles filiform, 2-4, united fora 

 part of their length. 



FRANKENIA L. 



Leaves small, mostly crowded and also fascicled in the axils. Flowers 

 small, solitary, and sessile in the forks of the stem or becoming cymose-clustered 

 on the branches. Petals clawed, bearing a crown. Capsule included in the 

 persistent calyx. 



1. Frankenia Jamesii Torr. Gray in Proc. Am. Acad. 8: 622. 1873. 

 Shrubby, with scabro-puberulent fascicled branches: leaves linear, 5-6 mm. 

 long, with revolute margins: petals white, cuneate, the apex erose-denticulate, 



