742 ACANTHACEAE (ACANTHUS FAMILY^ 



imperfectly 5-celled. Seeds several, with a thick roughened coat. — Low 

 branching annuals, clammy-pubescent, exhaling a heavy odor ; stems thickish ; 

 leaves simple, rounded ; tiowers racemed, large. (Dedicated to Prof. John 

 Marty n, of Cambridge, England.) 



1. M. louisiana Mill. Leaves heart-shaped, oblique, entire or undulate, the 

 upper alternate ; corolla dull white or purplish, or spotted with yellow and 

 purple ; endocarp of the fruit crested on one side, long-beaked. (M. prohoacidea 

 Gloxin.) — River-banks and waste places, s. Lid., 111., and la. to n. Mex. ; also 

 cultivated and naturalized northw. 



ACANTHAcEAE (Acanthus Family) 



Chiefly herbs, with opposite simple leaves, didynamous or diandrous stamens 

 inserted on the tube of the more or less 2-lipped corolla, the lobes of which are 

 convolute or imbricated in the bud,' fruit a 2-celled and few (i-\2) -seeded 

 capsule; seeds anatropous, without albumen, usually flat and supported by 

 hooked projections of the placentae (retinacula). Flowers commonly much 

 bracted. Calyx 5-cleft. Style thread-form ; stigma simple or Sf-cleft. Pod 

 loculicidal, usually flattened contraiy to the valves and partition. Cotyledons 

 broad and flat. — Mucilaginous and slightly bitter, not noxious. A large family 

 in t\e warmer parts of the world ; represented in gardens by Thunbergia, 

 which differs from the rest by the globular pod and seeds, the latter not on 

 hooks. 



* Corolla bilabiate, upper lip erect and concave, lower spreading ; stamens 2. 



1. Dianthera. Capsule obovate, flattened, 4-seeded. 



* * Corolla not obviously bilabiate, the 5 lobes broad and roundish, spreading ; staoiens 4. 



2. Ruellia. Calyx-lobes mostly linear or lanceolate. Capsule 6-20-seeded. 



3. Dyschoriste, Calyx-lobes long-filiform. Capsule 2-4-seeded. 



1. DIANTHERA [Gronov.] L. Water Willow 



Calyx 5-parted. Upper lip of corolla notched ; the lower spreading, 3-parted, 

 external in the bud. Anthers 2-celled, the cells separated and somewhat unequal. 

 Capsule contracted at base into a short stalk. — Perennial herbs, growing in 

 water or wet places, with entire leaves, and purplish flowers in axillary peduncled 

 spikes or heads. (Name formed of 8is, double, and dvdripd, anther, the separated 

 cells giving the appearance of two anthers on each filament.) 



L D. americana L. Stem 3-9 dm. high ; leaves linear-lanceolate, elongated ; 

 spikes cylindric, dense, long-peduncled ; corolla 1 cm. long, the lower lip 

 rugose. — In water, w. Que. and Vt. to Wi.sc, s. to Ga. and Tex. July-Sept. 



2. D. ovata Walt. Slender, 1.5-4 dm. high ; leaves oblong or ovate-oblong ; 

 pedunch's mostly shorter than the leaves. — Swamps, etc., Va. to Fla. and Tex., 

 inland to Mo. 



2. RUELLIA [Plumier] L. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla funnel-form, with spreading ample border, convo- 

 lute in bud. C'ells of the somewhat arrow-shaped anthers parallel and nearly 

 equal. Capsule narrow, in ours somewhat flattened, contracted and seedless 

 at base. Seeds with a mucilaginous coat, when wet exhibiting under the 

 microscope innumerable tapering short bristles, their walls marked with rings 

 or spirals. — Perennials, with large showy blue or purple flowers, sometimes 

 also with small flowers precociously close-fertilized in the bud. Calyx often 

 2-bracteolate. (Named for the early French herbalist, ,rean liuelle.) 



1. R. cili5sa Pursh. Hirsute with soft whitish hairs, 3-9 dm. high ; leaves 

 nearly sessile, oval or ovate-oblong, 2.5-7 cm. long ; flowers 1-3 and almo.st 

 sessile in the axils; tube of the corolla 2.5-4 cm. long, fully tivice the length of 



