150 LOOSESTRIFE FAMILY. 



*- Flower regular or nearly so : pod many-seeded, included in the calyx. 



3. NES^EA. Calyx short bell-shaped or hemispherical. Stamens 10-14, twice 



as many as the petals, in 2 sets, with long projecting filaments. Style slen- 

 der. Pod globular, 3 -5-celled. Leaves mostly whorled in threes or opposite. 



4. LYTHRUM. Calyx cylindrical, 8- 12-ribbed or 'striate. Petals 5-7. Stamens 



5-14. Style slender. Pod oblong, 2-celled. Leaves sessile. 



5. AMMAXNIA. Calyx short, 4-angled. Petals 4 and small, or none. Stamens 



4, short. Pod globular, 2-4-celled. Leaves opposite, narrow. 

 *- *- flower irregular : pod mostly ftw-seeded, 



6. CUP HE A. Calyx elongated, mostly many-ribbed, gibbous, spurred, or with a 



sac-like projection at base on the upper side, oblique at the mouth, which 

 has 6 proper teeth, and usually as many intermediate accessory ones or pro- 



cesses. Petals mostly 6, with claws, and very unequal, the two upper ones 

 larger; sometimes all or part wanting. Stamens 11 or 12, unequal : filaments 

 short. A gland at the base of the ovary on the upper side. Style slender: 

 stigma 2-lobed. Ovary flat, 2-celled, but one cell smaller and sterile or 

 empty. Pod enclosed in the calyx, and bursting through it on the lower 

 side ; the placenta bearing a few flat seeds, hardening, curving, and at length 

 projecting through the rupture. 



1. PUNICA, POMEGRANATE. (The name means Carthaginian.) 



P. Granatum. Tree cult, from the Orient, as a house-plant N. : smooth, 

 with small oblong or obovate obtuse leaves, either opposite or scattered, mostly 

 clustered on short branchlets ; the flowers short-stalked, usually solitary, large, 

 both calyx and corolla bright scarlet, with 5-7 petals, or full double; the fruit 

 as large as a small apple. 



2. LAGERSTRCEMIA, CRAPE-MYRTLE. (Named for a Swedish 

 naturalist, Lagcrstraan.) 



L. Indica, from E. Indies : planted for ornament S., and in conserva- 

 tories N. : shrub with smooth ovate or oval opposite leaves, and panicles of very 

 showy pale rose or flesh-colored large flowers, remarkable for the wavy-crisped 

 petals and long silky-tufted stamens. 



3. NESJBA. (Name from Greek for insular, from the habitation of the 

 original species.) ^ 



N. verticillata. Common E. and S. in very wet places ; smooth or 

 minutely downy, with long recurving branches (2 -8 long), lanceolate leaves, 

 mostly in threes, the upper with clustered short-stalked flowers in their axils, 

 5 wedge-lanceolate rose-purple petals, and 10 stamens of two lengths. 



N. salicif61ia. Cult, from Mexico, not hardy N. ; low, slightly shrubby 

 at base, smooth, erect, with lance-oblong or oblanceolate leaves, the upper ones 

 sometimes alternate, almost sessile flowers in their axils, with mostly 6 obovate 

 yellow petals, and 12 stamens of almost equal length. 



4. LYTHRUM, LOOSESTRIFE. (Name in Greek for blood: some have 

 red flowers.) Fl. summer. 



L. Salicaria, SPIKED L. Sparingly wild N. E. in wet meadows, and 

 cult. ; with stems 2 - 3 high, leaves broad-lanceolate, and often with a heart- 

 shaped base, in pairs or threes ; flowers crowded in their axils and forming a 

 wand-like spike, rather large, with 6 or rarely 7 lance-oblong pink petals, and 

 twice as many stamens of two lengths. ^ 



L. alatum. Low grounds W. & S. : nearly smooth, slender, 2 -3 high, 

 above and on the branches with margined angles, very leafy ; the small leaves 

 oblong, the uppermost not longer than the small flowers in their axils ; petals 

 G, purple ; stamens 6. 2/ 



5. AMMANNTA. (Named for Ammann, an early German botanist.) 

 Low, insignificant herbs, in wet places, especially S., with small greenish 

 flowers in the axils of the narrow leaves ; the inconspicuous petals purplish, 

 or none : fl. all summer. 



