

PKIMULACEAE (PRIMROSE FAMILY) 645 



(Ancient mime of Celtic origin, said to refer to curative properties of this genus 

 in diseases of cattle and ssvine.) 



1. S. VALERANDI L. Stem erect, 0.6-8 dm. high, leafy ; leaves obovate or 

 spatulate, the basal rosulate ; bracts none ; slender pedicels ascending, bracteo- 

 late in the middle, in maturity 6-11 mm. long ; capsule 3-4 mm. long. Ballast, 

 Philadelphia, etc. (Adv. from Eu.) 



2. S. floribiindus H B K. More slender, becoming diffuse ; racemes often 

 panicled, the pedicels longer (11-18 mm. long) and spreading ; capsule 24J mm. 

 long. (S. Valerandi, var. americanus Gray.) Wet places, chiefly near the 

 coast, and at low altitudes inland. June-Sept. 



5. LYSIMACHIA [Tourn.] L. LOOSESTRIFE 



Calyx 5-6-parted. Corolla rotate, the divisions entire, convolute in bud. 

 Filaments commonly monadelphous at base ; anthers oblong or oval. Capsule 

 few-several-seeded. Leafy-stemmed perennials, with herbage commonly glan- 

 dular-dotted. (In honor of King Lysimachus, or from Xtfo-is, a release from, 

 and pax?], strife.} 



1. LYSIMASTRUM Duby. Corolla yellow, rotate, very deeply parted, and 

 with no teeth between the lobes ; stamens more or less monadelphous, often 

 unequal; leaves opposite or whorled, or some abnormally alternate. 



* Corolla plain yellow, without dark markings. 



1. L. VULGARIS L. Coarse and tall, softly often viscidly pubescent, branch- 

 ing above ; leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, distinctly short-petioled ; flowers 

 1.5-2 cm. broad, in terminal leaf y panicles ; calyx 4-5 mm. long, with dark 

 margin ; glandular filaments united to near the middle. Roadsides and 

 thickets near towns, Me. to Out. and O. July-Sept. (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. L. PUNCTATA L. Similar, but with flowers often merely whorled in the 

 upper axils; calyx 7-10 mm. long, green throughout; corolla-lobes with glan- 

 dular-ciliolate margins. Roadsides, etc., N. S. to N. J. and Pa. June-July. 

 (Nat. from Eu.) 



** Corolla dark-dotted or streaked; filaments conspicuously monadelphous, 



unequal. 



3. L. quadrifblia L. Somewhat loosely hairy, or smooth; stem simple, 3-9 av^ 

 dm. high ; leaves whorled in fours or fives (sometimes in twos, threes, or sixes, 

 rarely only opposite or partly alternate), lanceolate to lance-ovate ; flowers on 

 long capillary peduncles from the axils of the leaves ; corolla 1-1.5 cm. broad, its 

 lobes ovate-oblong. Moist or sandy soil, N. B. to Ont., Minn., Mich., and Ga. 

 June, July. 



x L. prodiicta (Gray) Fernald. Stem smooth, 0.5-1 m. high, simple or 

 slightly branched ; leaves opposite or in whorls of 3-5, lanceolate to ovate- 

 lanceolate ; flowers in terminal bracted racemes (0.5-5 dm. long), the lower 

 from the axils of the upper foliage leaves; corolla 1-2 cm. broad, the lobes 

 ovate-oblong to oblong-lanceolate. (L. foliosa Small.) Damp thickets and 

 shores, Me. to N. C. and Mich. July, Aug. Apparently a widely distributed 

 and fertile hybrid of nos. 3 and 4. 



4. L. terrSstris (L.) BSP. Stems 2-8 dm. high, often bearing oblong or 

 moniliform bulblets in the axils, smooth, at length branched, very leafy ; leaves 

 opposite or rarely alternate, lanceolate, acute at each end ; flowers on slender 

 pedicels, in a bracted raceme (0.5-2.5 dm. long) ; lobes of the corolla lance-oblong. 

 (L. stricta Ait.) Low grounds, Nfd. to Hudson Bay, and south w. June-Aug. 



* * * Flowers 2-3 cm. broad, solitary in the axils of ordinary leaves ; corolla not 

 dark-dotted nor streaked; filaments slightly monadelphous. 



5. L. NUMMULARIA L. (MONEYWORT.) Smooth ; stems trailing and creep- 

 ing ; leaves roundish, small, short-petioled ; divisions of the corolla broadly 

 ovate, obtuse, longer than the lance-ovate calyx-lobes and stamens. Escaped 

 from gardens into damp ground in some places. June-Aug. (Introd. from Eu.) 



