LYTHRACE^E. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 100, 



AMMANNIA. 



Calyx bracteolated at the base, more or less campanulate, 

 4-7-lobed ; lobes flat or incurved, the angles usually expanding 

 into spreading accessory teeth or horns. Petals 4-5, or wanting. 

 Stamens as many or twice as many as the calycine lobes. 

 Ovary 2-3-4- eel led. Style shortish or elongated. Stigma ca- 

 pitate. Capsule ovate-globose, membranaceous, either bursting 

 transversely, the upper part falling away with the style, or open- 

 ing by valves. Seeds numerous, attached to thick central pla- 

 centas. Herbaceous plants growing in wet soil or in water, 

 all nearly quite glabrous. Stems 4-angled or occasionally te- 

 rete when old. Leaves opposite, quite entire. Flowers axil- 

 lary, sessile, or shortly peduncled, bracteolated at the base. 

 W. and A. 



294. A. vesicatoria Roxb.fl. ind. i. 426. Common in Hindo- 

 stan in cultivated ground. (Daud-maree Beng.) 



Stem erect, from 6 to 36 inches high, obsoletely 4-sided, much 

 branched,, Lower branches opposite, decussated; upper frequently 

 alternate. Leaves opposite, sessile, lanceolate, smooth ; those next 

 the flowers much smaller than the others. Corolla 0. Pericarp 

 1-celled, 1-valved, half covered with the calyx. The whole plant has 

 a strong muriatic smell. Leaves acrid; universally employed by the na- 

 tives of India to raise blisters in rheumatic pains, fevers, &c. The fresh 

 leaves bruised, perform their office effectually in half an hour. Roxb. 



HEIMIA. 



Calyx hemispherical-campanulate, bracteolated at the base, 

 with 6 erect lobes, and as many alternating horn-shaped patent 

 angles. Petals 6, alternate with the erect lobes. Stamens 12, 

 somewhat equal. Ovary sessile, nearly globose, 4-celled. Capsule 

 included within the calyx. Seeds numerous, minute, wingless. 

 Glabrous herbaceous plants. Peduncles 1-flowered, shorter 

 than the calyx. 



295. H. salicifolia Link, and Otto abbild. t. 28. DC.prodr. 



iii. 89. Nesaea salicifolia HBK. n. g. amer. vi. 192 New 



Spain on the volcano of Jorullo. 



Leaves ternate or opposite, the upper often alternate, on very short 

 stalks, lanceolate, acute, narrowed to the base. Petals obovate. 

 A powerful sudorific and diuretic. The Mexicans consider it a patent 

 medicine in venereal disorders, and call it Hanchinol. 

 149 L 3 



