CAMPANULACEAE 165 



AMERICAN CAMPANULA. 



Perennial? Stem 2 to 4 feet high, sometimes branched. Leaves 2 to 5 inches 

 long, upper ones contracted and tapering at base to a kind of winged petiole near 

 an inch long. Flowers rather distant, in a long terminal raceme, which is leafy 

 below, and often with 2 or 3 flowers in the axil of a leaf ; corolla pale purplish blue, 

 spreading ; style much exserted. 

 Hob. Woods, and moist shaded grounds : frequent. Fl. July. Fr. Aug. 



236. SPECUlcA N RIA, Heister. 



[From Speculum Veneris; the ancient name of an European species.] 

 Calyx 5- (rarely 3- or 4-) lobed. Corolla subrotate. Stamens 5, 

 distinct ; filaments dilated and connivent at base, hairy, shorter than 

 the anthers. Stigmas 3. Capsule oblong, prismatic, 3-celled, each 

 cell opening by a lateral valve. Annuals : flowers axillary, sessile. 



1. S. perfoliAta, Alph. DC. Stem simple, angular; leaves 

 roundish or reniform-cordate, crenate-dentate, clasping and con- 

 cave. 



Campanula amplexicaulis. MX. $ Fl. Cestr. ed. 2. p. 156. 

 PERFOLIATE SPECULARIA. 



Stem 9 to 18 inches high, rarely branched; angles hispid with spreading or re- 

 trorse bristles. Leaves % an inch to % in length, and nearly an inch wide. Flow- 

 ers bluish-purple, 1 to 3 or 4 in the axil of each leaf. Seeds lenticular. 

 Hob. Pastures, and grain-fields: frequent. Fl. June. Fr. July. 



ORDER LIV. ERICACEAE.. 



Chiefly shrubs ; leaves mostly alternate, without stipules ; flowers regular, or nearly 

 so ; corolla 4- or 5-lobed (rarely 4- or <j-petaled) ; stamens as many, or twice as many, 

 as the lobes or petals ; anthers often with awn-like appendages, and frequently 

 opening by pores at summit ; style 1 ; ovary 4- to 10-celled ; fruit a berry, or cap- 

 sule ; seeds with fleshy albumen. 



This is an interesting Order, comprising some plants of a medicinal character, 

 and a number that are exceedingly beautiful especially the Azaleas, Rhododen- 

 drons, Kalmias, and many species of the multitudinous genus (Erica} which is the 

 type of the Family. The Rhododendrons recently collected on the Himalaya 

 mountains, by that enterprising and accomplished Botanist, Doctor J. D. HOOKEB, 

 are among the most magnificent of ornamental trees and shrubbery. 



,&=" The prevailing under-shrubs in our forests, namely, the Gaylussacias, Vac- 

 ciniums, and Andromedas, seem to take the place, on this Contineni>-and may 

 be regarded as the Phytognostic Equivalents of the Ericas of the Eastern hemis- 

 phere. 



SUBORDER I. VACCINIFAE. 



Galyoc-tube adherent to the ovary, which becomes a berry, or berry-like fruit, 

 crowned with the calyx-teeth. 



237. GAYIUSSAC'IA, H. B. K. 



[Dedicated to M. Gay-Lussac; a French Chemist, and Savant.] 

 Corolla ovoid, or campanulate, 5-cleft. Stamens 10; anthers awn- 

 less, the cells tapering and tubular above, opening by a pore, or 

 chink, at summit. Ovary 10-celled, with a single ovule in each 

 cell, fruit a drupe-like berry, containing 10 nutlets. Leaves mostly 

 deciduous, entire, and, with the flowers, resinous-dotted; flowers 

 racemose. 



