GENUS 19. 



FIGWORT FAMILY. 



2. Ilysanthes attenuata (Muhl.) Small. 



Short-stalked False Pimpernel. 



Fig. 3791- 



Lindernia attenuata Muhl. Cat. 59. 1813. 

 Ilysanthes gratioloides curtipedicellata Bush, Bull. 



Torr. Club 21 : 494. 1894. 

 /. attenuata Small, Bull. Torr. Club 23: 297. 1896. 



Stem erect or ascending, 3'-! 6' long, the branches 

 spreading. Leaves oblong to ovate, or sometimes 

 obovate, i'-ii' long, thinnish, obtuse, serrate with 

 a few low teeth, 3-5-nerved, narrowed into short 

 petioles, or sessile ; peduncles shorter than the 

 leaves ; calyx-segments linear-subulate, as long as 

 the capsule, or longer; corolla 2"-6" long; cap- 

 sule narrowly ovoid, about 2" long, pointed ; seeds 

 slightly curved, \\"-2." long, yellowish brown, the 

 ends usually rounded. 



In wet places, New Brunswick and Ontario to Wis- 

 consin, south to Florida and Arkansas. Ascends to 

 2000 ft. in Virginia. Perhaps not specifically dis- 

 tinct from the preceding. May-Oct. 



20. MICRANTHEMUM Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 10. pi 12. 1803. 



Creeping or ascending, branched small leafy annual glabrous herbs, with opposite obovate 

 oval or orbicular sessile entire leaves, and minute white or purplish short-peduncled flowers, 

 solitary in some of the axils. Calyx 4-S-lobed or 4-5-parted. Corolla very irregular, the 

 tube short, the upper lip shorter than the lower, or wanting, the lower 3-lobed, spreading or 

 ascending, the middle lobe the largest. Stamens 2, anterior; filaments short, somewhat 

 dilated or appendaged at the base ; anthers small, their sacs distinct, parallel, or slightly 

 divergent. Style short ; stigma 2-lobed. Capsules globose, 2-celled by a membranous parti- 

 tion or becoming i-celled. Seeds several or numerous, minute. [Greek, small flower.] 



About 1 6 species, natives of America. Besides the following, another occurs in the southern 

 United States. Type species : Micranthemum orbiculatum Michx. 



i. Micranthemum micranthemoides (Nutt.) Wettst. Nuttall's Micranthemum. 



Fig. 3792. 



Hemianthus micranthemoides Nutt. Journ. Acad. Phil. 



i : 1 19. pi. 6. 1817. 



Micranthemum Nuttallii A. Gray, Man. Ed. 5, 331. 1867. 

 Micranthemum micranthemoides Wettst. in Engl. & 



Prantl, Nat. Pfl. Fam. 4: Abt. 3b. 77. 1891. 



Somewhat fleshy; stem filiform, creeping, the 

 branches ascending, i'-2i' high. Leaves obovate to 

 oval, obtuse, i"-2i" long; flowers about \" long, 

 borne on peduncles of about the same length; calyx 

 campanulate in flower, pbovoid in fruit, 4-lobed, 

 usually split along one side ; peduncles recurved in 

 fruit; upper lip of the corolla nearly obsolete; mid- 

 dle lobe of the lower lip longer than the lateral ones ; 

 appendages at the bases of the stamens nearly as 

 long as the filaments ; capsule obovoid-globose, I" in 

 diameter, as long as the calyx. 



In tidal mud, New Jersey to Florida. Aug.-Oct. 

 This species is the type of the genus Hemianthus Nutt., 

 which has been regarded as distinct from Micranthe- 

 mum by other authors, a view which may be maintained. 



21. LIMOSELLA L. Sp. PI. 631. 1753. 



Low glabrous succulent floating or creeping, tufted annual herbs (or perennial by stolons ? ) , 

 with filiform stems rooting at their nodes, basal slender-petioled entire leaves, and filiform 

 i-flowered scape-like peduncles, the flowers small, white, pink, or purple. Calyx campanu- 

 late, 5-lobed. Corolla nearly regular, open-campanulate, the tube short, the limb S-cleft. 

 Stamens 4, inserted on the corolla-tube, scarcely exserted ; filaments short ; anther-sacs con- 

 fluent. Style short; stigma capitate. Ovary 2-celled at the base, i-celled above. Capsule 

 globose or oblong, becoming i-celled, many-seeded. [Greek, mud seated.] 



About 6 species, of wide geographic distribution. Type species : Limosella aquatica L. 



