46 cisTACE.fi. (ROCK-ROSE FAMILY.) 



2. HUDSON I A, L. HUDSOXIA. 



Petals 5, fugacious (lasting but a clay), much larger than the calyx Stamens 

 9 - 30. Style long and slender : stigma minute. Pod oblong, enclosed iu the 

 calyx, strictly 1 -celled, with 1 or 2 seeds attached near the base of each nerve- 

 like placenta. Embryo coiled into the form of a closed hook. Bushy heath- 

 like little shrubs (seldom a foot high), covered all over with the small awl- 

 shaped or scale-like persistent downy leaves, producing numerous (small but 

 showy) bright yellow flowers crowded along the upper part of the branches- 

 (Named in honor of Hudson, an English botanist contemporary with Lin- 



1 . II . eriCOldes, L. Downy but greenish ; leaves awl-shaped, loose ; 

 flowers on slender naked stalks. Dry sandy soil near the coast, Maine to Vir- 

 ginia : extending interior as far as Conway, New Hampshire. May. 



2. II. tomentosa, Nutt. Hoary with down ; leaves oval or oblong, 

 close-pressed and imbricated; flowers sessile. Sandy coasts from Maine to 

 Maryland, and on the Great Lakes from Champlain to Superior. May, June. 

 Flowers 5" broad. 



3. LECIIEA, L. PINWEED. 



Petals 3, narrow, flat in the bud : not longer than the calyx, withering-persist- 

 ent. Stamens 3-12. Style scarcely any : stigmas 3, plumose. Pod globular, 

 appearing partly 3-cclled ; the 3 broad and thin placenta; borne on imperfect 

 partitions, each bearing 2 seeds on the face towards the valve : in our species, 

 the placentae curve backwards and partly enclose the seeds. Embryo straight- 

 ish. Homely perennial herbs, with very small greenish or purplish flowers. 

 (Named in honor of Leche, a Swedish botanist.) 



1. L. major, Michx. Hairy; stem upright, simple, producing slender 

 prostrate branches from the base; leaves elliptical, mucronate-pointed, alternate 

 and opposite or sometimes whorled ; flowers densely crowded in panic-led clusters ; 

 pedicels shorter than the globose-depressed (very small) pods. Sterile wool- 

 lands ; Maine to Kentucky and southward, chiefly eastward. July -Sept 

 Plant 1 - 2 high, stout. 



2. Ij. tliymifolia, Pursh. Hoary with appressed hairs, especially the 

 decumbent stout leafy shoots from the base ; flowering stems ascending, 

 loosely branched, with the leaves linear or oblanceolate ; those of the shoots <////>- 

 tiraf, whorled, crowded ; flowers scattered in small and loose clusters ; pedicels 

 as long as the globose pods. Sandy coast, Maine to New Jersey and south- 

 ward. July - Sept. Scarcely a foot high, tufted, rigid ; the pods larger than 

 ir No. 1. 



3. Ij. minor, Lam. Minutely hairy; stems slender, upright or diffuse; 



leafy shoots densely tufted at the base; l<ures linear; flowers loosely rnraiied on 

 the slender branchk-ts; pedicels mostly longer than the globose pods. Dry 

 open soil; common. June -Sept. Plant 5' -15' high, slender, running into 

 numberless variations according to the soil, season, and exposure Pods small* 

 r than in No. 2. 



