248 OCTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 



long-, only 2 or 3 lines wide; flowers produced towards 

 - the summits of ihe brawches, yellow, capsules racer.iose 

 octang-uhir; marg-ins alaied, dorsal angles obtuse, corru- 

 gate; dissepiments very thin and membranaceous, stipe a 

 little shorter than the fruit; racemes 4 to 6 inches lon.^. 



17 hiibrida. 18. linearis- Obs. Koot lie^neous, stem 

 slender/flexuosc, rarely exceediiig a span, often branched, 

 the wliole plant conspicuously pubescent; leaves linear, 

 somewhat oblont^; radical leaves spatiuilate-oval; flowers 

 britjht yellow nearly the size of those of (E. fruticosa, for 

 a dwarf variety of which it might almost be mistaken; tube 

 of the caiix much longer tlian the germ; capsules subco- 

 rymbose or terminal, very few, roundish-obovate, with 8 

 grooves, usually shorter than the stipe. Hab. From Vir- 

 ginia to Georgia, in open low and sandy woods. 19. chr>j- 

 sa7it/ta. 20. pusilla. probubl}'^ a variety of ffi. linearis, the 

 capsules of which are sometimes nearly sessile, and the 

 fruit of this is described as clavatc. 



21. * alata. (E. macrocarpa. Ph Obs. Root perennial, 

 perpendicular, caudex dividing into several simple and 

 decumbent stems, 6 to 12 inches long. Leaves linear-lance- 

 olate acute, upon long petioles, in an early state minutely 

 villous and hoar} , margin sometimes distantly and glandu- 

 larly denticulate, always pubescent as well as the nen-es, 

 opaque betwixt the light, 5 or 6 inches long and about 

 half an inch wide. Flowers sessile, produced below 

 the summit of the stem, axillary; tube of the calix 3 

 or 4 inches long, (and by cultivation, at the expense of the 

 germ, 6 or? inches!) segments of the calix sublanceolate, 

 acuminate, flat, externally spotted with purple, and co- 

 vered with a short silky villus; petals very large, obcor- 

 dately dilated, nearl)- entire. Pollen triangular, connectmg 

 at its angles by a line web of arachnoid filaments. Stigma 

 4-lobed. Capsule oval, of extraordinary magnitude, com- 

 pressed, coriaceous and sluning, producing 4 very broad 

 alated margins, but without any intermediate dorsal 

 ridges, as is usual in this section of the genus, there is 

 consequently no dissepiments, the separation of the 4 cells 

 being produced by the dorsal depression. Seeds gibbous 

 and corrugate, with a lacunose margined depression, dis- 

 posed in 2 rows in each cell; length of the capsule about 

 2 inches, breadth one and a half! This splendid and sin- 

 gular species appears to indicate the existence of some 

 distinct and proximate genus. Hab. On the elevated sum- 

 mits of the calcareous and petrosiliceous hills in the vici- 

 nity of the lead-mines of the river Meremeck, 30 miles 

 from St. Louis, Louisiana. Discovered by Mr. J. Brad- 



