780 BUETTNEKIACEAE 



5-10 mm. long, terminal or opposite the leaves : sepals lanceolate with subulate tips, 3-5 

 mm. long : corolla rose-red or nearly violet : petals surpassing the sepals : filaments united 

 only at the base : capsules bladdery, 1-1.5 cm. broad, the wing-like angles with prominent 

 tips near the base. 



In dry or rocky soil, Texas and tropical America. 



3. RIEDLEA Vent, 



Shrubs or shrubby herbs, often with pubescent foliage. Leaves alternate : blades 

 toothed. Flowers perfect, in axillary or terminal clusters. Involucel of 3 bractlets. 

 Sepals 5, nearly distinct, barely accrescent. Petals 5, convolute, flat, marcescent. Stamens 

 5 : filaments more or less united at the base. Ovary 5-celled : styles sometimes united below : 

 stigmas 5. Ovules 2 in each cavity. Capsule subglobose, 5-celled, loculicidal and later 

 septicidal. Seeds commonly solitary in each cavity. Endosperm fleshy. Embryo straight. 



Flowers in terminal spike-like panicles, chiefly with small bracts : petals fully 10 mm. long. 



I. E. glabrescens. 

 Flowers in terminal head-like clusters, with leaf-like bracts : petals 4-6 mm. long. 2. R. corchorifotia. 



1. Riedlea glabrescens (Presl. ) Small. A shrubby herb, 3-12 dm. tall, with some- 

 what hirsute foliage. Leaf -blades ovate to lanceolate, 1.5-6 cm. long, usually acute or 

 acuminate, serrate, rounded or subcordate at the base ; petioles 2-10 mm. long : flower- 

 clusters in terminal interrupted spike-like panicles, subtended by small inconspicuous 

 bracts, or sometimes 1 or 2 of the lower clusters accompanied by leaf-like bracts : sepals 

 linear or linear-lanceolate, 4-5 mm. long : petals purple, about 1 cm. long : capsules 4-4.5 

 mm. long. [R. serrata var. glabrescens Presl.] 



In pine lands, southern peninsular Florida. Summer. 



2. Riedlea corchorifolia (L. ) DC. An herb, sometimes more or less woody at the 

 base, 4-11 dm. tall, glabrous or sparingly hispidulous. Leaf-blades ovate or ovate-lanceo- 

 late, 2-6 cm. long, acute, serrate or dentate-serrate, rounded or truncate at the base ; pet- 

 ioles 1-3 cm. long : flower clusters chiefly in dense terminal heads accompanied by leaf- 

 like bracts : sepals linear, 5-6 mm. long : petals pale purple above the yellow claws, 4-6 

 mm. long : capsules about 4 mm. high. 



In waste grounds or about rice-fields, Georgia to Alabama and Florida. Spring to fall. 



4. WALTHERIA L. 



Herbs, shrubs or trees, with stellate and simple pubescence. Leaves alternate : blades 

 toothed : stipules narrow. Flowers small, perfect, usually in axillary clusters or small 

 cymes. Involucel of 3 deciduous bracts. Sepals 5, united at the base into a turbinate 10- 

 nerved tube. Petals 5, spatulate, convolute, withering-persistent. Stamens 5 : filaments 

 united below, not accompanied by staminodia : anthers with parallel sacs. Ovary 1-celled, 

 sessile : style simple, not central : stigma club-shaped or brush-like. Ovules 2 in a cavity. 

 Follicles 1-celled, 2-valved lengthwise. Seed solitary, ascending. Endosperm fleshy. 

 Embryo straight, axile. 



1. Waltheria Americana L. Foliage tomentose. Stems 6-12 dm. tall, stiff: leaf- 

 blades ovate to oblong, 1-5 cm. long, serrate, rounded or cordate at the base, on stout 

 petioles : flowers in dense sessile or peduncled axillary clusters : sepals subulate, about 

 5 mm. long, villous-hirsute, similar to the bractlets : petals yellow, slightly longer than 

 the sepals : follicles 2.5-3 mm. long, pubescent at the top. 



In sand, Florida Keys. Circumtropical. 



5. AYENIAL. 



Low shrubby herbs, resembling EUPHORBIACEAE, commonly clothed with stellate hairs. 

 Leaves alternate : blades toothed. Flowers minute, in axillary clusters or cymes, pedi- 

 celled. Involucel wanting. Sepals 5. ' Petals 5, with long involute claws, the blades con- 

 verging over the stigma. Stamens 5, alternating with 1-2 staminodia : filaments united 

 below into an urn-shaped cup : anthers with 3 parallel sacs. Ovary 5-celled, stalked : styles 

 united : stigma 5-lobed or capitate. Ovules 2 in each cavity. Capsule 5-celled, 5-angled, 

 muricate, the carpels separating from the central column, then septicidally from each other, 

 finally loculicidal. Seeds solitary in each cavity, transversely wrinkled. Endosperm 

 wanting. Cotyledons spirally convolute. 



