MELASTOMACE^;, LYTHRACE^E. 51 



odorous, in a leafy spike, opening in the evening or in cloudy 

 weather. Pods oblong, narrowing towards the top. Waste 

 places. 



2. CE. pu'mila, L. (SMALL E. ) Stem low, 5-12 inches hiyh, 

 smooth or nearly so. Leaves lanceolate or oblanceolate. Pods 

 nearly sessile, club-shaped, 4- an< jled. Flowers pale yellow, open- 

 ing in sunshine. River and lake margins. 



3. (E. chrysan'tha, Michx. Distinguished from the preceding 

 by the orange-yellow flowers, and pedicelled pods, the latter 

 scarcely wing-angled. Along the Niagara river. 



4. L,TJDWIG'IA, L. FALSE LOOSESTRIFE. 

 L. palustris, EH. (WATER PURSLANE.) Stems creeping in 

 the mud of ditches or river margins, smooth. Leaves opposite, 

 tapering into a slender petiole. Flowers sessile, solitary, usually 

 without petals. Pod 4-sided. 



ORDER XXXVIII. MELASTOMA'CEJE. (MELASTOMA F.) 



Low herbs with opposite 3-5-ribbed leaves. Calyx-tube ad- 

 herent to the ovary, the limb 4-cleft. Petals 4, showy, convolute 

 in the bud. Stamens 8, with 1 -celled anthers opening by a pore 

 at the apex ; these and the petals inserted on the calyx. Style 

 and stigma 1. Pod 4-celled, many-seeded ; seeds coiled. The 

 only representative with us is 



RHEXIA, L. DEER-GRASS. MEADOW-BEAUTY. 

 1. R. Virginica, L. Stem square, wing-angled. Leaves oval- 

 lanceolate. Petals purple. Shores of the Muskoka Lakes. 



ORDER XXXIX. LYTHRA'CE^. (LOOSESTRIFE F. ) 



Herbs, or slightly woody plants, with opposite or whorled 

 entire leaves, without stipules. Calyx enclosing, but free from, 

 the ovary. Petals (mostly 5) and stamens (mostly 10) inserted 

 on the calyx. Flowers axillary or whorled. Style 1. Stigma 

 capitate. The only common representative genus with us is 

 NES^E'A, Commerson, Juss. SWAMP LOOSESTRIFE. 



N. verticilla'ta, H.B.K. Stems curving, 2-6 feet long, 4-6- 

 sided. Leaves lanceolate, mostly whorled. Flowers purple, in the 



