70 ROCKROSE FAMILY. 



3. LECHEA. Petals 3, persistent, not longer than the calyx. Stamens 3-12. Style none. 

 Pod partly 3-celled, 6-seeded. Small homely herbs, with inconspicuous, greenish, or 

 purplish flowers, and pods about the size of a pin's head, whence the popular name. 

 Flowers summer and autumn in sterile soil. 



1. HELIANTHEMUM, ROCKROSE. (Greek: sun, flower; the 

 blossoms opening only in sunshine.) (Lessons, Figs. 334, 430.) ^ 



H. Caiiaddnse, Michx. FROSTWEED. Lance-oblong leaves, hoary 

 beneath ; flowers produced all summer, some with showy corolla 1' broad 

 and many stamens ; others small and clustered along the stem, with in- 

 conspicuous corolla and 3-10 stamens ; the latter produce small, few-seeded 

 pods. The only one common N. Popular name from the formation of 

 crystals of ice in late autumn about the cracked bark of the root. 



H. corymbdsum, Michx. Downy all over, with smaller flowers clus- 

 tered at the top of the stem, and larger ones long-peduncled. Along the 

 coast from N. J., S. 



H. vulgare, Gsertn. The ROCKROSE, of the Old World ; with yellow, 

 whitish, or red flowers in racemes and procumbent stems ; occasionally 

 grown in gardens. 



H. Carolinianum, Michx. Hairy, with green leaves, the lower obvate 

 and clustered ; flowers all large-petaled and scattered, in spring. S. States. 



2. HUDSONIA. (For an English botanist, William Hudson.} 11 



H. ericoldes, Linn. Greenish ; leaves awl-shaped ; flowers peduncled. 

 From Va., N. 



H. tomeiitdsa, Nutt. Hoary with soft down ; leaves oblong or oval 

 and close-pressed; peduncles short or hardly any. From Md. to Me. 

 and about the Great Lakes. 



3. LECHEA, PINWEED. (For Leche, a Swedish botanist.) % 



* Hairs long and soft, spreading; leaves oblong; flowers in small 

 . cymose clusters. 



L. major, Michx. LARGER P. Stem upright, hairy, l-2 high ; leaves 

 elliptical, mucronate ; flowers densely clustered. Borders of sterile wood- 

 lands. 



* * Hairs appressed ; leaves mostly narrower ; flowers paniculate. 

 H- Leaves thin, cauline owes, oval or oblong ; panicles leafy. 



L. thymifdlia, Michx. Erect, about 2 high ; pod obovate-globose. 

 Atlantic coast. 



*- )- Leaves flrm, cauline ones linear to slender awl-shaped; panicles 

 rather naked and raceme-like. 



w- Pod nearly globose. 



L. minor, Linn. SMALLER P. Stems low, 12'-18' high, rather strict ; 

 flowers loosely clustered. Open sterile ground. 



Var. maritima, Gray, is stouter and stiffer, with linear, hoary, radical 

 leaves. In sandy soil, Mass. S., near the coast. 



L. tenuifdlia, Michx. Low, slender and diffuse ; leaves very narrow 

 and small. E. Mass, to Mo. and S. 



w -M- Pod ellipsoidal. 



L. racemu!6sa. Lam. Erect, leaves oblong-linear ; inflorescence loose. 

 Dry places, Long Island to Ky. and S. 



