PLANTAGINACEAE 1097 



lobes 4 or 5, equal or unequal. Corolla gamopetalous, commonly showy: tube 

 oblique, often decurved : limb 2-lipped ; lobes 5, spreading, slightly unequal, 

 the 2 upper exterior in the bud. Stamens (fertile) 4, didynamous, or the two 

 posterior ones without anthers. Filaments elongated. Anthers with spreading 

 sacs. Gynoecium 2-carpellary. Ovary ] -celled, elongated, with 2 parietal pla- 

 centae, which sometimes form a false partition, thus making the cavity appar- 

 ently 2-4-celled. Style slender. Stigmas 2, sometimes dilated. Ovules few or 

 numerous, in two rows on each blade of the placentae. Fruit a beaked cap- 

 sule. Seeds flattened, with or without wings. Endosperm wanting. Embryo 

 large, with more or less flattened cotyledons. 



1. MARTYNIA L. 



Characters of the family. UNICORN PLANT. 



Corolla white or pink, 4-5 cm. long : leaf-blades merely sinuate. 1. M. Louisiana. 



Corolla reddish or violet-purple, 2.5-3.5 cm. long : leaf-blades lobed. 2. M. fragrans. 



1. Martynia Louisiana Mill. Annual, densely viscid-pubescent, heavy-scented. 

 Stems erect or much branched, the branches spreading or prostrate, 2-9 dm. long, fleshy, 

 often zigzag : leaves alternate above; blades suborbicular or orbicular-ovate, often oblique, 

 0.5-3 dm. in diameter, ciliate, sinuate, cordate ; petioles as long as the blades or shorter : 

 peduncles 1-6 cm. long, becoming deflexed : bractlets linear or oblong, deciduous : flowers 

 not fragrant : calyx cleft on the lower side ; lobes ovate, obtuse : corolla white, or pink, 

 spotted with yellow and purple within, 4-5 cm. long ; lobes broad, undulate : stamens all 

 fertile : capsule 8-15 cm. long, strongly curved, separating into 2 elastically spreading 

 valves; beak longer than the body. [M. proboscoidea Glox.] 



On banks and in waste places, Maine to Iowa, Georgia and Texas. Naturalized eastward. Sum- 

 mer and fall. RAM'S HORN. 



2. Martynia fragrans Lindl. Similar to M. Louisiana in habit, but smaller. Leaf- 

 blades shallowly lobed as well as sinuate : flowers fragrant : corolla 2.5-3.5 cm. long, red- 

 dish or violet-purple : capsule more slender than that of the preceding species. 



In dry soil, southern Texas to Arizona and Mexico. 



Order 8. PL ANT AGIN ALES. 



A gamopetalous order, of uncertain relationship. Herbs, commonly acau- 

 lescent. Leaves mainly or wholly basal : blades typically 1-several-ribbed. 

 Flowers perfect, monoecious or dioecious, in spikes. Calyx of 4 partially united 

 or nearly distinct sepals. Corolla of 4 partially united, scarious and veinless 

 petals. Androecium of 4 or 2 stamens. Gynoecium a compound superior pistil. 

 Fruit capular, commonly a pyxis. 



FAMILY 1. PLANTAGINACEAE Lindl. 1 PLANTAIN FAMILY. 



Annual or perennial, acaulescent or short-stemmed, rarely stoloniferous 

 plants with basal or, in (all our) stemmed forms, alternate leaves. Inflores- 

 cence terminal spicate, on scapes or on axillary peduncles. Flowers bracteate, 

 sessile, perfect, monoecious or dioecious. Calyx inferior, of 4 persistent often 

 scarious-margined slightly united sepals. Corolla hypogynous, scarious or 

 membranous, nerveless, usually persistent, with 4 erect or spreading imbricated 

 lobes. Stamens (in ours) 4 or 2. Filaments adnate to the tube or throat of the 

 corolla. Anthers versatile, 2-celled, opening lengthwise. Gynoecium of a single 

 pistil. Ovary superior, sessile, 1-2-celled or apparently 3-4-celled. Stigma 

 single, filiform or slender. Ovules 1-many, amphitropous, peltate. Fruit (in 

 ours) a circumscissile capsule or pyxis. Seeds 1-several in each cavity. Endo- 

 sperm fleshy. Embryo straight or nearly so. 



1. PLANTAGO L. 



Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves with their blades narrow or expanded, often 

 prominently ribbed, thin or leathery and thickish. Scapes usually simple, solitary to 



1 Revised by Mr. E. L. Morris. 



