ACANTHACEAE 1085 



or short acuminate, undulate, acuminate or rounded at the base, manifestly petioled : 

 calyx bristly; lobes linear-lanceolate to broadly linear, 2.5-3 cm. long: corolla blue or 

 nearly white, 5-6 cm. long ; tube about as long as the throat : limb 5-7 cm. broad : cap- 

 sules 1-1.5 cm. long. 



In dry soil, Pennsylvania to Wisconsin, Florida and Texas, Spring and summer. A variety with 

 narrower leaf-blades and mostlyicleistogamous flowers, is R. strepens micrdntha (Engelm. & Gray) 

 Britton. 



5. STENANDRIUM Nees. 



Perennial acaulescent or short-stemmed herbs, with pubescent foliage. Leaves ap- 

 proximate : blades flat, entire. Flower-spikes terminal, bracted. Calyx sessile : lobes 5, 

 narrow, slightly unequal. Corolla rose-colored or purplish : tube terete, slender, slightly 

 curved at the throat : limb oblique, spreading : lobes 5, unequal, imbricated. Stamens 4, 

 didynarnous, included : anthers 1-celled. Ovary 2-celled. Stigmas 2-lobed. Ovules 2 in 

 each cavity. Capsule oblong or nearly fusiform, slightly angled. Seeds somewhat flat- 

 tened, roughened or pubescent. 



1. Stenandrium Floridanum (A. Gray) Small. Foliage deep green. Leaves basal, 

 few : blades ovate or oblong-ovate, 2-3 cm. long, obtuse, glabrous except the upper side of 

 the midrib near the base, slightly undulate, rounded or subcordate at the base ; petioles 

 as long as the blades, hirsute : scapes erect, solitary or clustered, surpassing the leaves : 

 spikes few-flowered, 2-5 cm. long : bracts linear-lanceolate, 10-13 mm. long, acuminate 

 and bristly-tipped, ciliate ; upper ones hispidly so : calyx puberulent : lobes linear-subulate, 

 6-9 mm. long : corolla about 2 cm. long : capsulas about 1 cm. long : seeds 4 mm. in diam- 

 eter, densely strigose with yellowish hairs. [S. duke var. Floridanum A. Gray. ] 



In pine woods, Florida. Spring to fall. 



6. TETRAMERIUM Nees. 



Perennial caulescent herbs or partly shrubby plants, with pubescent foliage. Leaves 

 opposite : blades entire. Flowers sessile or short-pedicelled and often solitary in the axils 

 of the bracts. Calyx relatively small : lobes 4-5, slender. Corolla 2-lipped : tube slender, 

 terete : upper lip entire, concave : lower lip flat, spreading, 3-lobed. Stamens 2, about 

 equalling the corolla : filaments adnate to the mouth of the corolla-tube : anthers 2-celled, 

 the sacs equal, disjoined by the connective. Staminodia wanting. Ovary 2-celled. Ovules 

 2 in each cavity. Capsule contracted into a solid stipe-like base. 



1. Tetramerium platyat&gium Torr. Foliage puberulent. Stems more or less branched, 

 3-6 dm. tall : leaf-blades narrowly oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 2-5 cm. long, obtuse or 

 acutish, somewhat undulate, short-petioled : spikes 1.5-5 cm. long: bracts ovate to ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, about 1.5 cm. long, imbricated: calyx about 2 mm. long; lobes 

 subulate, much longer than the tube : corolla purple, 10-15 mm. long ; tube slender, longer 

 than the narrowly oblong lobes : capsules less than 1 cm. long, body longer than the stipe- 

 like base. 



In valleys, southern Texas. Spring. 



7. DIAFEDIUM Konig. 



Annual or usually perennial caulescent herbs. Leaves opposite : blades entire. 

 Spikes conspicuously bracted. Calyx sessile, hyaline : lobes narrow or bristle-like, equal 

 or nearly so. Corolla blue, violet or red, elongated, 2-lipped : tube terete, slightly dilated 

 above : upper lip erect, concave, entire or notched : lower lip more or less spreading, 2- 

 lobed. Stamens 2, barely equalling the lips : filaments adnate to the mouth of the 

 corolla-tube : anthers 2-celled. Staminodia wanting. Ovary 2-celled. Styles filiform, 

 with entire or slightly 2-lobed stigmas. Ovules 2 in each cavity. Capsule with an ovoid 

 or suborbicular body and a solid stipe-like base. Seeds 4 or fewer, smooth or coarsely 

 granular. 



Corolla red or crimson, curved : tube longer than the lips. 1. D. assurgens. 



Corolla purple or pink, nearly straight : tube and lips about equal in length. 



Bracts rounded or merely mucronulate at the apex. 2. D. brachiatum. 



Bracts acuminate or cuspidate-acuminate at the apex. 3. D. attenuatum. 



1. Diapedium assiirgens (L. ) Kuntze. Foliage glabrous or puberulent. Stem, 

 3-9 dm. tall, rather widely branched : leaf-blades ovate to elliptic or oblong-lanceolates 

 2-10 cm. long, acute or obtusish, undulate, slender-petioled : outer bracts spatulate or lin- 

 ear-spatulate, 8-12 mm. long ; inner bracts subulate, shorter : calyx about 4 mm. long : 



