328 PRIMULACE^. (primrose FAMILY.) 



Order 61. PKIMULACE^E. (Primrose Family.) 



Herbs, with simple leaves, and regular perfect Jiowers, the stamens as 

 many as the lobes of the monopetalous {rarely polypetalous) corolla ana 

 inserted opposite them (on the tube or base), and a 1-celled ovary with a 

 central free placenta rising from the base, bearing several or many seeds. — 

 Calyx free from the ovary, or in Samolus partly coherent. (Corolla none 

 in Glaux.) Stamens 4 or 5, rarely 6 or 8. Style and stigma one. Seeds 

 with a small embryo in lieshy albumen. Ovules amphitropous, except 

 in Tribe I. 



Tribe I. HOTTONIE^. Ovary wholly free ; ovules anatropous. Aquatic ; immersed 

 leaves pectinate. 



1. Hottonia. Corolla sho)t salver-form. Flowers verticillate and racemose. 

 Tribe II. PKIMULE^. Ovary wholly free. 



* Steraless , leaves all in a cluster from the root ; capsule dehiscent by valves or teeth. 



2. Dodecatheon. Corolla reflexed, 5-parted. Stamens exserted, connivent in a cone. 



3. Primula. Corolla funnel-form or salver-shaped, open at the throat. Stamene included. 



4. Audrosace. Corolla short, very small, constricted at the throat. Stamens included. 



* # Stems leafy ; corolla rotate (none in Glaux) ; leaves entire. 

 ■»- Capsule dehiscent vertically by valves or irregularly, mostly globose. 

 5 Trientalis. Corolla mostly 7-parted. Stem leafy only at the summit. 



6. Steironema. Corolla 5-parted. Five slender starainodia between the fertile stamens. 



7. Lysimachia. Corolla 5-6-parted or 5-6-petalled. Staminodia none. Leaves dotted 



8. Glaux. Corolla none ; the calyx petal-like. Flowers axillary. 



•^ *- Globose capsule circumscissile, the top falling off as a lid ; flowers axillary. 

 9. Anagallis. Corolla longer than the calyx, 5-parted. Leaves opposite. 



10. Centunculus. Corolla shorter than the calyx, 4- 5-cleft. Leaves alternate. 

 Tribe III. SAMOL,E^. Ovary connate at base with the base of the calyx. 



11. Sainolus. Corolla bell-shaped, with 5 staminodia in the sinuses. Flowers racemose. 



1. HOTTONIA, L. Featherfoil. Water Violet. 



Calyx 5-partecl, the divisions linear. Corolla salver-shaped, with a short 

 tube , limb .5-parted. Stamens 5, included. Capsule many-seeded, 5-valved ; 

 the valves cohering at the base and summit. Seeds anatropous. — Aquatic 

 perennials, with pectinate immersed leaves, and the erect hollow flower-stems 

 almost leafless. Flowers white or whitish, whorled at the joints, forming an 

 interrupted raceme. (Named for Prof Hotton, a botanist of Leyden.) 



1. H. inflata, Ell. Leaves dissected into thread-like divisions, scattered 

 on the floating and rooting stems, and crowded at the base of the cluster of 

 peduncles, which are strongly inflated between the joints (often as thick as 

 one's finger) ; pedicels short. — Pools and ditches, Mass. to S. Ind., and south 

 to the Gulf. June - Aug. 



2. DODECATHEON, L. American Cowslip. 



Calyx deeply 5-cleft, the divisions lanceolate, reflexed. Corolla with a very 

 short tube, thickened throat, and 5-parted reflexed limb ; the divisions long 

 and narrow. Filaments short, monadelphous at base ; anthers long and linear, 

 approximate in a slender cone. — Perennial smooth herb, with fibrous roots, a 

 cluster of oblong or spatulate leaves, and a simple naked scape, involucrate 



