414 THE KINDS OF PLANTS 



racemes: corolla with 5 scales in throat: nutlets erect, bearing 1-3 rows of 

 stout prickles, and fixed by side to the central column. 



L. virginiana, Lehm. A troublesome biennial or annual weed of thickets 

 and open woods, 24 ft., slender and branching: leaves thin, oblong-ovate, 

 tapering at both ends: flowers small, whitish or bluish, on pedicels, in 

 racemes 1-3 in. long, reflexing in fruit: nutlets small, globose, covered 

 with barbed prickles. 



4. MERT^NSIA. LUNGWORT. 



Perennial, usually glabrous herbs, with leaves entire, pale green and 

 often dotted, the radical ones many- veined and the stem-leaves sessile: 

 flowers in terminal racemes; calyx short, 5-cleft; corolla funnelform or 

 trumpet-shape, often with 5 small folds in throat, and stamens inserted 

 between; style long and slender: nutlets erect, smooth, finely wrinkled. 



M. virginica, DC. Leaves entire, obovate, sessile on stem: flowers large, 

 trumpet-shaped, 1 in. long, spreading or hanging on slender pedicels, light 

 blue or pinkish; corolla-throat not crested, limb entire. Perennial. Rich 

 soil. May, June. 



5. MYOSOTIS. FORGET-ME-NOT. 



Low, usually villous herbs, with stems erect or reclining, branching: 

 leaves small, alternate, entire: flowers small in bractless racemes; corolla 

 salver-form, 5-lobed, lobes spreading, rounded with appendages at base: 

 nutlets smooth or hard, fixed by base. Several species. 



M. scorpioides, Linn. (M. palustris, With.). True forget-me-not. A 

 favorite garden perennial introduced from Europe, but also escaped to field 

 and moist spots: racemes 1-sided: leaves lance-oblong, obtuse: calyx open in 

 fruit, the lobes shorter than the tube: corolla light-blue, with yellow center. 



M. laxa, Lehm. Flowers smaller, paler, on long pedicels: calyx-lobes 

 long: habit lax. Swamps. 



M. arvensis, Hoffm. Hairy: leaves lance-oblong, acute: calyx closing in 

 fruit and beset with minutely hooked bristles. Fields, native. 



6. LITHOSPERMUM. CROMWELL. PUCCOON. 



Hairy herbs with roots usually red: leaves alternate, entire: flowers in 

 leafy-bracted racemes or spikes; calyx-segments 5, narrow; corolla funnel- 

 or salver-form, 5-lobed, sometimes crested in throat; stamens 5, with short 

 filaments, included on corolla-throat; stigma 2-lobed: nutlets 4, smooth 

 or wrinkled, usually stony. 



L. arvense, Linn. Rough weed from Europe, 8-12 in.: leaves small, lan- 

 ceolate to linear: flowers insignificant: corolla white, hardly as long as calyx, 

 without appendages in throat: nutlets roughly wrinkled, dull gray. 



L. Gmelinii, Hitchc. (L. hirtum, Lehm.). A rough, native perennial, with 

 simple stem, 8 in. to 2 ft., on dry, sterile ground: leaves lanceolate or linear, 

 hairy: flowers densely crowded in short terminal leafy racemes: corolla bright 

 orange-yellow, showy, longer than calyx, with little appendages in throat, 

 and woolly. June. 



