LOASA FAMILY. 151 



A. htunilis, from Mass, to Michigan and S. ; has narrow oblanceolate or 

 spatulate leaves, tapering to the base, and a very short style. 



A. Iatii61ia. W. & S., taller, the lance-linear leaves with a broader and 

 auricled partly clasping base. 



6. CUPHEA. (Name from Greek, means gibbous or curved, from the shape 

 of the calyx.) Leaves chiefly opposite : ft. all summer. 



C. viSGOSissima, CLAMMY C. Sandy fields from Conn, to 111. and S. : 

 a rather homely herb, l-2 high, branching, clammy-hairy, with lance-ovate 

 leaves, small flowers somewhat racemed along the branches, and ovate pink 

 petals on short claws. 



C. silenoides. Cult, from Mexico : clammy-hairy, 1 high, with lance- 

 oblong or lanceolate leaves tapering at base into short petiole, and rather large 

 flowers somewhat racemed on the branches; calyx^ purplish, almost 1' long, 

 ovoid at base and with a tapering neck ; petals blood-purple or crimson, rounded, 

 the 2 larger ' in diameter. . 



C. platycentra. Cult, from Mexico, both in greenhouses and for bor- 

 ders, flowering through the season : slightly woody at base, 8'- 12' high, form- 

 ing masses, thickly beset with the ovate or lance-ovate acute smooth and glossy 

 bright green leaves, contrasting with the bright vermilion flowers between each 

 pair, the calyx narrow and tubular, almost 1' long, with a short and very blunt 

 spur at base, the short border and teeth dark violet edged on the upper side 

 with white ; petals none. y. 



48. LOASACEJS, LOASA FAMILY. 



Herbs with rough pubescence, and some with stinging bristles, no 

 stipules, a 1-celled ovary coherent with the tube of the calyx (which 

 is little if at all extended beyond it), and mostly with 3-5 parietal 

 placentas, in fruit a pod, few many-seeded : persistent calyx-lobes 

 and true petals mostly 5, and often an additional inner set of pet- 

 als : stamens commonly numerous, often in 5 clusters : style single. 

 Natives of America, mostly S. & W. : several cult, for ornament. 



# Erect or spreading, not twining: leaves alternate: petals flat. 



1. MENTZELIA. Petals lanceolate, spatulate, or obovate, deciduous. Filaments 



long and slender, or some of the outermost broadened or petal-like: anthers 

 short and small. Pod top-shaped, club-shaped, or cylindrical, straight. Herb- 

 age rough with short stiff pubescence, or bristly, but not stinging. 

 * * Twining herbs : leaves opposite, petioled: petals hood-shaped or slipper-shaped. 



2. BLUMENBACHIA. Petals 5, spreading, and as many scale-like small ones or 



appendages alternate with them. Stamens in 5 sets, one before each petal, 

 with very slender filaments; also 10 sterile filaments, a pair before each ap- 

 pendage. Ovary and many-seeded pod 10-ribbed, when old spirally twisted 

 and splitting lengthwise. Peduncles axillary, mostly 1-flowered. Herbage 

 beset with sharp bristles, commonly stinging like nettles. Flowers on long 

 axillary peduncles. 



1. MENTZELIA. (Named for- C. Mentzel, an early German botanist.) 

 Fl. summer or autumn. Includes the BAUTONIA of Nuttall and 

 EUCNIDE. 



1 . Pod 3 - ^-seeded : flowers small, yellow, opening in sunshine. 

 M. Oligosperma. Open dry ground, from Illinois S. W. : a rough and 

 homely plant, with spreading brittle branches, ovate and oblong angled or cut- 

 toothed leaves, and yellow flowers less than 1' broad, with 5 wedge oblong 

 pointed petals, and about 20 slender filaments. 



2. BART6NIA of Nuttall, &c., not of Muhlenbcrg. Pod mostly Jong, contain- 

 ing viany or at least 20 cubical or flat seeds : flowers Iwye and thowy : 

 petals 1' - 2' long : herbage rough. 



