COSViMAlLXCEM. (cONVOLVrU S lAMII.V.) 371 



4-<)vule(l ; styles distinct, or rarely united. Capsnhf numtly 4-Heeded. Em- 

 brvo thread-shaped, spirally roiled in the rather flfshy allminen, destitute of 

 cotyledons, sometimes with a few alternate scales (h«lonpjin<; to the plumule) ; 

 t^ermination occurring in the soil. — Leafless annual hcrhs, with thread-like 

 yellowish or reddish stems, hearing a few minute males in jilace of leaves ; 

 on rising from the ground hecoming entirely parasitic on the hark of herhs 

 and shruhs on which they twine, and to which they adhere hy means of suck- 

 ers developed on the surface in cont;vct. Flowers small, cymose-clustered, 

 mostly white; usually produced late in summer and in autumn. (Name hui>- 

 posed to he of Arahic derivation.) 



§ 1. Stiijinas eloiujated ; capsule chxumscissi/e. 



C. Ei'f LiNUM, Weihe. (Flax Doddkr.) Stems very slender, low ; flowers 

 glohular, sessile in dense scattered heads; corolla 5-])arted, short-cylindrical, 

 scarcely exceeding the ltroa<lly ovate acute divisi(jns of the i-alyx. persistent 

 around the capsule; stamens inchuled; scales short, hroad, crcnulate, shorter 

 than the glolmse ovary. — Flax-fields; in Euroi)e very injurious; sparingly 

 introduced with flax-seed into the Northern States, rlune. 



C. EpfxHYMUM, Murr. Stems very slender; flowers capitate; corolla-lohes 

 spreading, the cylindrical tul»e longer tlian the suberect acute sojmls ; scales 

 large, contiguous, toothed; stanieus exserted. — Occasionally found in dover- 

 lields. (Int. from Eu.) 



§ 2. Stir/mas capitate ; capsule indehisceut. 

 * Calijx gamosepalous ; ovary and capsule depre^ed-globose. 

 ■*- Flowers in dense or globular clusters ; corolla with short and wide tube, per- 

 sistent at the base of the capsule ; sti/les inostli/ shorter than the ovary. 



1. C. Chlorocarpa, Engclm. Stems coarse, orange-colored: flowers 

 white (1 -U ' loug); lobes ofcali/.r and corolla (mostly 4) acute, often longer 

 than the tube; scales small, 2-cle/t,oitei\ reduced to a few teeth ; the thin cap- 

 sule pale greenish-yellow. — Wet places, from Wise, and Minn, to Ark.; also 

 in Tenn. and Del., often on Polygonum. 



2. C. arvensis, Beyrich. Stems pale and slender, \o\y ; Jloicers smaller 

 (hardly 1" long) ; rali/x-lobes (5) obtuse, mostly very broad; those of the corolla 

 acuminate, longer than the tube, with inflexed points; scales large, deeply 

 fringed. — Kather dry soil on various low plants, N. Y. to Fla.. west to the 

 Pacific. Very variable. 



H- H- Floicers in panicled often compound cymes ; styles slender, )nostly longer 

 than the ovary ; corolla withering on the summit of the large capsule. 



3. C. tenuiflbra, Engelm. Stems coarse and yellow, usually rather high- 

 climbing; flowers (I'Mong or less) on short thick pedicels, often 4-mennis; 

 lobes of calyx and corolla oblong, obtuse, the latter mostly shorter than the 

 .slender deeply campanulate tube; scales shorter than the tube, fringed. — On 

 tall herbs and shrubs in wet places, Tenn. to Minn., and south to Tex. 



* * Calyx gamosepalous ; ovary and capsule pointed, the latter enveloped or 



capped by the marcescent corolla ; flowers in l<H>se panicled cymes. 



■^ Acute tijis of the corolla-lobes infe.red. 



4. C. dec6ra, Engelm. Stems coarse; flowers fleshy and more or less 

 ]>a])illose; calyx-lobes triangular, acute; those of the broadly cami)auulate 



