OROBANCHACEAE (BtiOOM-RAPE FAMILY) 



739 



ou damp rocks, with l-flowered scapes ; the broad and entire leaves soft-fleshy, 

 mostly greasy to the touch (whence the name, from pinguis, fat). 



1. P. vulgaris L. Leaves spatulate or elliptical ; scape and calyx a little 

 pubescent ; lips of the violet corolla very unequal, the tube funnel-form ; spur 

 straightish. — Wet calcareous rocks, N. B. and Que. to n. N. Y., Mich., Minn., 

 and far north w. ; very local south w. June-Aug. (Eurasia.) 



OROBANCHACEAE (Broom-rape Family) 



Herbs (root-parasites) destitute of green foliage, gamopetalous, the ovary 

 one-celled with 2 or -4 parietal placentae ; pod very many-seeded ; seeds minute, 

 with albumen and a very minute embryo. Calyx persistent, 4-5-toothed or 

 -parted. Corolla tubular, more or less 2-lipped, ringent, persistent and with- 

 ering ; upper lip entire or 2-lobed, the lower 3-lobed. Stamens 4, didynamous, 

 inserted on the tube of the corolla ; anthers 2-celled, persistent. Ovary free, 

 ovoid, pointed with a long style ; stigma large. Capsule 1-celled, 2-valved ; each 

 valve bearing on its face one placenta or a pair. Seeds very numerous, minute. 

 — Low thick or fleshy herbs, bearing scales in place of leaves, lurid yellowish 

 or brownish throughout. Flowers solitary or spiked. 



* Flowers of two sorts, scattered along slender panicled branches. 



1. Epifagus. Upper flowers sterile, %vith a tubular corolla ; the lower fertile, with the corolla 



minute and not expanding. Bracts inconspicuous. 



* * Flowers all alike and perfect ; stems mostly simple. 



2. Conopholis. Flowers in a thick scaly spike. Calyx deeply cleft in front. Corolla 2-lipped. 



Stamens exserted. 



3. Orobanche. Flowers sessile, spicate, thyrsoid-spicate, or pedicellate. Calyx 5-cleft. Corolla 



2-lipped. Stamens included. 



1. EPIFAGUS Nutt. Beech-drops. Cancer-root 



Flowers racemose or spiked ; the upper sterile, with long filaments and style ; 

 the lower fertile, with a very short corolla which is forced off from the base 

 by the growth of the pod ; stamens and style very short. Calyx 5-toothed, 

 Stigma capitate, a little 2-lobed. Capsule 2-valved at the apex, with 2 approxi- 

 mate placentae on each valve. — Herbs, slender, purplisli or yellowish-brown, 

 much branched, with small scattered scales, 1-6 dm. high. (Name from etri, 

 upon, and (pvyos, the Beech, because it grows on the roots of that tree.) Lep- 

 tamnium Raf. Epiphegus Spreng. 



1. E. virginiana (L.) Bart. Corolla of the upper (sterile) flowers whitish 

 and purple, 1 cm. long, curved, 4-toothed. — Common under Beech-trees, para- 

 sitic on their roots; N. B. to Ont., Wise, and southw. Aug.-Oct. 



2. C0N6pH0LIS Wallr. Squaw-root. Cancer-root 



Flowers with 2 bractlets at the base of the irregularly 4-5-toothed calyx, its 

 tube split down on the lower side. Corolla tubular, swollen at base ; upper lip 

 arched, notched at the summit, the lower shorter, 3-parted, spreading. Stigma 

 depressed. Capsule with 4 placentae, a pair on the middle of each valve. — 

 Upper scales forming bracts to the flowers, regularly imbricate, not unlike those 

 of a fir-cone (whence the name, from kQvos, a cone, and <po\is, a scale). 



1. C. americana (L. f.) Wallr. — In woods, mostly under oaks, in clusters 

 among fallen leaves; s. Me. to Mich., s. to Fla. and Tenn. May, June. — A 

 singular plant, chestnut-colored or yellowish throughout, as thick as a man's 

 thumb, 1-2.5 dm. high, covered with fleshy scales, which become dry and hard. 



