595 



Leaves all alternate, sessile or nearly so. 



Flowers peduncled in the upper axils, with conspicuous yellow petals (8-16 

 mm. long), equaling the ovate or lanceolate foliaceous lobes of the calyx. 



1. L. alternif61ia L. (SEEDBOX.) Smooth or nearly so, branched, 1 m. 



roots fascicled, fusiform ; leaves lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, acute or 

 i>'>inted at bath ends; capsules cubical, rounded at base, wing-angled. Shady 

 hanks, low wet woods, and swamps, e. Mass, to Fla. and Tex.; and in the 

 interior from s. w. Ont. to Kan., and southw. 



Var. linear if 61ia Britton. Leaves linear ; calyx-lobes linear-lanceolate. 

 W. Va. 



2. L. hirtSlla Raf. Hairy; roots clustered, fusiform-thickened; stems 

 nearly simple, 3-8 dm. high ; leaves oblong, or the upper lanceolate, blunt at 

 both ends; capsules nearly as in the last, but scarcely wing-angled. Moist 

 pine barrens, N. J. to Fla. and Tex. 



-(- - Flowers small, sessile (solitary or sometimes clustered) in the axils ; petals 

 small and greenish or none; leaves moxtly lanceolate or linear on the erect 

 stems (3-9 dm. high) and numerous branches; but prostrate or creeping 

 sterile shoots often produced from the base, thickly beset with shorter obovate 

 or spatulate leaves. (Our species glabrous, except no. 3.) 



+ Capsule about as broad as long. 



3. L. sphaerocarpa Ell. Minutely pubescent, especially the calyx, or nearly 

 glabrous ; leaves lanceolate or linear, acute, tapering at base, those of the run- 

 ners obovate with a wedge-shaped base, glandular-denticulate ; bractlets minute, 

 obsolete, or none ; capsules globular or depressed (sometimes acute at base), not 

 longer than the calyx-lobes (less than 4 mm. long). Water or wet swamps, e. 

 Mass, to Fla. and La. Bark below often spongy -thickened. 



4. L. polycarpa Short & Peter. Stoutish ; leaves narrowly lanceolate, acute 

 at both ends, those of the runners oblong-spatulate, acute, entire ; bractlets 

 linear-awl-shaped and conspicuous on the base of the 4-sided somewhat top-shaped 

 capsule, which is longer than the lanceolate calyx-lobes. Wet places, e. Mass, 

 to Ct. ; s. w. Ont. and 0. to Neb., s. to Tenn. and Kan. 



5. L. alata Ell. Very similar to the preceding but more slender ; calyx-lobes 

 short, broadly deltoid. Jackson, Mo. (Bush according to Tracy); N. C. to 

 Fla and " La." 



M- -M. Capsule decidedly longer than broad. 



6. L. linearis W]alt. Slender, mostly low ; leaves narrowly linear, those of 

 the short runners obovate ; minute petals usually present ; bractlets minute, at 

 the base of the elongated top-shaped 4-sided capsule, which is 6 mm. long and 

 much longer than the calyx-lobes. Bogs, pine barrens of "N. Y.," N. J., and 

 southw. 



7. L. glandulbsa Walt. Much branched ; leaves oblong- or spatulate-lanceo- 

 late, tapering at the base or even petioled ; bractlets very minute at the base of 

 the cylindrical capsule, which is 6 mm. long, and several times exceeds the calyx- 

 lobes. (L. cylindrica Ell.) Low shady woods, about ponds, and in swamps, 

 s. 111. to Fla. and Tex. 



* * Leaves all opposite ; stems creeping or floating. 



8. L. palustris (L.) Ell. (WATER PURSLANE.) Smooth; leaves ovate or 

 oval, tapering into a slender petiole ; petals none, or small and reddish when the 

 plant grows out of water ; calyx-lobes very short ; capsules 4-sided, not tapering 

 at base, sessile in the axils, 4 mm. long. (Isnardia L.) Ditches and wet 

 shores, common. (En.) 



9. L. arcuata Walt. Smooth, small and creeping ; leaves oblanceolate, nearly 

 sessile ; flowers solitary, long-peduncled ; petals yellow, exceeding the calyx 

 (6 mm. long) ; capsules club-shaped, somewhat curved, 8 mm. long. (Ludwigi- 

 antha Small.) Swamps, Va. to Fla. 



