48 HYPERICACE^E. (ST. JOHN'S-WORT FAMILY.) 



ORDER 18. PARNASSIACE^E. (PARNASSIA FAMILY.) 



Character that of the single genus Parnassia, technically most like 

 but the leaves alternate and dotless, sometimes clearly 

 and therefore perhaps nearer Saxifragaceae, the 4 sessile 

 slif/mas situated directly over the parietal placenta ! 



1. PARJVASSIA, Tourn. GRASS OF PARNASSUS. 



Sepals 5, imbricated in the bud, persistent. Petals 5, veiny, spreading, at 

 length deciduous, imbricated in the hud : a cluster of somewhat united gland- 

 tipped sterile filaments at the base of each. Proper stamens 5, alternate with 

 the petals: filaments persistent: anthers opening inwards. Ovary 1-cellcd, with 

 4 projecting parietal placenta) : stigmas 4, sessile, directly over the placentae. 

 Pod 4-valved, the valves hearing the placentae on their middle. Seeds very nu- 

 merous, anatropous, with a thick wing-like seed-coat and no albumen. Embryo 

 straight : cotyledons very short. Perennial smooth herbs, with the entire leaves 

 chiefly radical, and the solitary flowers terminating the long naked stems. 

 Petals white, with greenish or yellowish veins. (Named from Mount Parnassus : 

 called Grass of Parnassus by Dioscorides.) 



1. P. palustlis, L. Petals sessile; rather longer than the calyx, few- 

 veined; sterile filaments 9 15 in each set, slender. Shore of Lake Superior, 

 Upper Michigan, and northward. Aug. Stalks 3' -10' high. Leaves all 

 heart-shaped. Flower nearly 1' broad. (Eu.) 



2. P. C.irolitiifina, Michx. Petals sessile, more than twice the length 

 of the calyx, many-veined; sterile filaments 3 in each set, stout, distinct almost to 

 the base. Wet banks, New England to Wisconsin and southward, especially 

 along the mountains. July -Sept. Leaves thickish, ovate or rounded, often 

 lieiirt-shaped, usually but one on the stalk, and that low down and clasping, 

 Stalk 1- 2 high. Flower !'-!' broad. 



3. P. asarifolia, Vent. Petal* abruptly contracted into a claw at the 

 b:i<e ; sterile. jil<iw< 'jits 3 in each set ; leaves round d lidin //-shaped : otherwise as in 

 No. 2. High Alleghanies of Virginia, and southward. 



ORDER 19. HYPERICACEJE. (ST. JOHN'S-WORT FAMILY.) 



// ,-lx or shrills, with opposite entire dotted leaves and no stipules, rcyuhir 

 hypogynous flowers, the petals mostly oblique and convolute in the bud, and 

 infiii// or J'i ii' */<i/itt us commonly collected in 3 or more clusters or bun<ll< s. 

 Pod 1-i'fflrd irit/i 2-5 parietal placentce, and as IIKIII// styles, or 3-5-celled 

 by the union of (he placentce in the centre: dehiscence wpticidal. Sepals 4 

 or 5, imbricated in the bud, herbaceous, persistent. Petals 4 or 5, mostly 

 deridnoiis. Pod 2-5- (rarely 6-7-) lobed, with as many prrsi>lrnt 

 styles, which are at first sometimes united. Seeds very numerous, small, 

 anatropous, with no albumen. Embryo cylindrical : the cotyledons very 



