400 ACANTHACEi-E. (aCANTHLS FAMILY.) 



supported by hooked projections of the placentce (retinacula). — Flowers 

 commonly much bracted. Calyx 5-cleft. Style thread-form ; stigma 

 simple or 2-cleft. Pod loculicidal, usually flattened contrary to the valves 

 and partition. Cotyledons broad and flat. — Mucilaginous and slightly 

 bitter, not noxious. A large family in the warmer parts of the Avorld ; 

 represented in gardens by Thunbp:rgia, which differs from the rest by 

 the globular pod and seeds, the latter not on hooks. 



* Corolla not obviously bilabiate, tlie 5 lobes broad and roundish, spreading ; stamens 4. 



1. Caloplianes. Calyx-lobes long-filiform. Capsule 2 - 4-seeded. 



2. Kuellia. Calyx-lobes mostly linear or lanceolate. Capsule 6- 20-seeded. 



* ♦ Corolla bilabiate, upper lip erect and concave, lower spreading ; stamens 2. 



3. Dianthera. Capsule obovate, flattened, 4-seeded. 



1. CALOPHANES, Don. 



Calyx deeply 5-cleft or parted ; its lobes elongated setaceous-acuminate or 

 aristiforra. Corolla funnel-form, with ample limb, convolute in the bud. Sta- 

 mens 4, the anthers muci'onate or sometimes aristate at base. Ovules a single 

 pair in each cell. Capsule oblong-linear, 2 -4-seeded. — Low branching per- 

 ennials, pubescent or hirsute, with proportionally large axillary nearly sessile 

 flowers (solitary or few), and blue corolla. (Name from kuKos, beautiful, and 

 (paivw, to appear.) 



1. C. Oblongifolia, Don. Stems usually erect and simple, ^-1° high; 

 leaves from narrowly oblong to oval, very obtuse, sessile (!' long or less) ; co- 

 rolla blue, sometimes purple-dotted or mottled, seldom Tloug; calyx-lobes 

 nearly distinct, filiform-setaceous, hirsute. — Fine-barrens, S. Va. to Fla. 



2. RUELLIA, Plumier. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla funnel-form, Avith spreading ample border, convo- 

 lute in the bud. Stamens 4, the cells of the somewhat arrow-shaped anthers 

 parallel and nearly equal. Capsule narrow, in our species somewhat flattened, 

 contracted and seedless at the base, above 8- 12-seeded. Seeds with a muci- 

 laginous coat, when wet exhibiting under the nucroscope innumerable taper- 

 ing short bristles, their walls marked with rings or spirals. — Perennials, wdth 

 rather large and showy blue or purple flowers, mostly in axillary clusters, 

 sometimes also with small flowers precociously close-fertilized in the bud. Ca- 

 lyx often 2-bracteolate. (Named for the early herbalist, John Ruelle.) 



1. R. ciliosa, Pursh. Hirsute with soft Avhitish hairs (1 -3° high) ; leaves 

 nearly sessile, oval or ovate-oblong (I -2' long) ; flowers 1-3 and almost sessile 

 in the axils; tube of the corolla (1 - H' long) fully twice the length of the seta- 

 ceous cali/x-lobes ; the throat short. — Dry ground, ISIich. to Minn., south to 

 Fla. and La. June -Sept. — Var. AMnfouA, Gray. Sparingly hirsute-pubes- 

 cent or glabrate ; leaves ovate-oblong, usually short-petioled, larger ; tube of 

 corolla little exceeding the hardly hirsute calyx. — Va. and Ky. to Ala. Ap- 

 pearing like a liybrid with the next. 



2. R. Strepens, L. Glabrous or sparincjly pubescent (1 -4° high) ; leaves 

 narroived at base into a petiole, ovate, obovate, or mostly oblong (2^-5' long) ; 

 tube of the corolla (about 1' long) little longer than the dilated portion, slitjldlt/ 



