LYTHRACEAE. 



VOL. II. 



6. PARSONSIA P. Br. ; Adans. Fam. PI. 2 : 234. 1763. 

 [CUPHEA P Br.; Adans. loc. cit. Hyponym. 1763.] 



Herbs (some shrubs in tropical regions), with opposite or verticillate leaves Flowers 

 solitary or racemose, axillary, irregular and unsymmetrical. Calyx-tube elongated tubular 

 12-nbbeu, gibbous or spurred at the base, oblique at the mouth with 6 primary teeth and 

 usually as many appendanges. Petals 6, unequal. Stamens mostly 11 (sometimes 12 m our 

 species), inserted on the throat of the calyx, unequal; filaments short. Ovary sessile or 

 obliquely stipitate, with a curved gland at its base, unequally 2-celled; ovules several or 

 numerous; style slender; stigma 2-lobed. Capsule included in the calyx, oblong i-celled 

 laterally dehiscent. Seeds flattened. [In honor of James Parsons, M. D., a Scotch botanist ] 



About 200 species natives of America. Besides the following, 2 others occur in the Southern 

 States. 1 ype species : Ly thrum Parsonsia L. 



i. Parsonsia petiolata (L.) Rusby. Blue Wax- 

 weed. Clammy Cuphea. Tar-weed. Wax- 

 bush. Fig. 3008. 



Ly thrum petiolatum L. Sp. PI. 446. 1753. 



Cuphea viscosissima Jacq. Hort. Vind. 2: 83 pi. 177. 1772. 



Cuphea petiolata Koehne, Engler's Bot. Jahrb. 2: 173. 1882. 



Not Pohl. 

 Parsonsia petiolata Rusby, Mem. Torr. Club 5: 231. 1894. 



Annual, erect, very viscid-pubescent, branched, 6'-2o' 

 high. Leaves slender-petioled, ovate-lanceolate, scabrous, 

 mostly rounded at the base and blunt-pointed at the apex. 

 i'-ii' long; flowers axillary, short-peduncled, purple, 3"~4" 

 broad ; petals ovate, clawed ; stamens sometimes 12 ; fruit- 

 ing calyx swollen, about 4" long; capsule dehiscent before 

 the seeds are ripe, the placenta projecting through the 

 lateral orifice. 



In dry soil, New Hampshire to northern Illinois and Kansas, 

 south to Georgia and Louisiana. Introduced into southern 

 Ontario. Ascends to 3300 ft. in West Virginia. July-Oct. 



Family 97. MELASTOMACEAE R Br, Exp. Congo, App. 5. 1818. 



MEADOW-BEAUTY FAMILY. 



Herbs (shrubs or trees in tropical regions), with opposite 3-o,-nerved simple 

 leaves, and regular perfect, often showy, but rarely odorous, generally clustered 

 flowers. Stipules none. Calyx-tube adnate to or free from the ovary, usually 

 4-5-lobed, the lobes imbricated. Petals as many as the lobes of the calyx, and 

 inserted on its throat, more or less oblique, imbricated. Stamens twice as many, 

 or equal in number to the petals, often inclined or declined, the alternate ones 

 sometimes shorter ; anthers opening by a pore in our species. Ovary 2-several- 

 celled (often 4-pelled) ; style terminal, simple; stigma simple or lobed ; ovules oc, 

 anatropous. Capsule included in the calyx-tube, irregularly or loculicidally dehis- 

 cent. Seeds mainly small, with no endosperm. 



About 175 genera and 3000 species, widely distributed in tropical regions, most abundant in 

 South America. 



i. RHEXIA L. Sp. PI. 346. 1753. 



Perennial herbs, often somewhat woody at the base, sometimes tuber-bearing, with 

 mostly sessile opposite 3-5-nerved leaves, and terminal showy cymose or rarely solitary 

 flowers. Calyx-tube urn-shaped or campanulate, constricted at the neck, its limb 4-lobed, 

 the lobes triangular or subulate, shorter than the tube. Petals 4, obovate, oblique, rounded 

 retuse, or aristate at the apex. Stamens 8, equal; anthers linear or oblong, incurved or 

 inverted in the bud. Ovary free from the calyx, glabrous, 4-celled; style slender; stigma 

 truncate. Capsule 4-celled, 4-valved. Placentae 4, central. Seeds numerous, coiled or bent, 

 rough. [Greek, breaking, applied originally by Pliny to a different plant] 



About 14 species, natives of the eastern United States and Cuba. Type species : Rhexia 

 virginica L. 



Stem cylindric, very pubescent. * R- mariana. 



Stem square or angled, pubescent or glabrous. 



Stem more or less pubescent ; leaves ovate. 2. R. virginica. 



Stem glabrous. 



Leaves oblong o- lance-oblong : calyx with a few hairs above. t 3. R- aristosa. 



Leaves ovate, bristly-ciliate ; calyx glabrous. 4 ^- cilwsa. 



