180 OXAGRACE.E. (kVKNING-PRIMROSE FAMILY.) 



Porl 4-G-ccllccl, usually lonjr, opcninp; hotwccn the rilis. Seeds very numerous. 

 — Ilerhs (ours oliibroiis perennials), with mostly entire and alternate leaves, 

 and axillary yellow flowers, in summer. (Dedieated to Bcrwird de JiiS'iicu, the 

 founder of the Natural System of Botany, as further developed by his illustrious 

 nephew. ) 



1. J. deciirrens, DC. Stem erect (l°-2° high), branchinf^, ivlnrjed hy 

 the deeurrent lanceolate leaves ; calyx-lobes 4, as lonjj as the petals ; pod oblong- 

 club-shaped, wing-angled. — Wet places, Virginia to Illinois, and southward. 



2. J. rdpens, L. Stemcreepinfj,orJloatimi and rootim/ ; leaves oblong, ta- 

 pering into a slender petiole; flowers large, long-peduncled ; calyx-lobes and 

 obovate petals .5 ; pod cylindrical, with a tapering base. — In water, Illinois, 

 Kentucky, and southward. Also nat. near Philadelphia. 



6. LUDWIGIA, L. F.vlse Loosestrife. 



Calyx- tube not at all prolonged beyond the ovary ; the lobes 4, usually persist- 

 ent. Petals 4, often small or wanting. Stamens 4. Pod short or cylindrical, 

 many-seeded. Seeds minute, naked, — Perennial herbs, with axillary (rarely 

 capitate) flowers, produced through summer and autumn. (Named in honor 

 of Christian G. Liiduug, Professor of Botany at Leipsie, contemporary .vith Lin- 

 naeus.) 



* Leaves all alternate, sessile or nearly so. 



•*- Flowers peduricled in the upper axils, with conspicuous yellow petals (4" - 8" long), 



equallinff the ovate or lanceolate foliaceous lobes o/ the cali/x. 



1. L. alternifdlia, L. (Seed-box.) Smooth or nearly so, branched 

 (3° high) ; leaves lanceolate, acute or pointed at both ends ; pods cubical, rounded 

 at the base, wing-angled. — Swamps : common, especially near the coast. — Pods 

 opening first by a hole where the style falls off, afterwards splitting in pieces. 



2. L. hirtella, Haf. Hairy all over ; stems nearly simple (1°- 2° high) ; 

 leaves oblony, or the upper lanceolate, blunt at Ixtth ends : pods nearly as in the last, 

 but scarcely wing-angled. — Moist pine barrens, New Jersey to Virginia, and 

 southward. — Fascicled roots often tuberous-thickened. 



•*- ■*- Flowers small, sessile (solitary or sometimes clustered or crowded) in the axils, 

 with very small greenish petals {in No. 5) or mostly none: leaves mostly lanceolate 

 or linear on the erect stems (l°-3° high) and numerous branches; but prostrate 

 or creeping sterile shoots or stolons are nfhn produced from the base of the stem, 

 these are thickly beset icilh shorter olmrate or s/iatulate kavcs. ( Our species gla^ 

 brous, except No. 3.) 



3. L. sphseroearpa, Ell. Minutely pubescent, especially the calyx, or 

 nearly glabrous ; leaves lanceolate or linear, acute, tapering at the base ; those 

 of the runneps obovate with a wedge-shaped base and glandular-denticulate; 

 bractlets minute, obsolete, or none ; pods glolmlar or depressed (sometimes acute at the 

 base), not longer than the caly.x-lobcs (less than 2" long). — AVater or wet 

 swamps, E. Mass., S. New York, New Jersey, Pcnn., and .'^outliwanl. — Bark 

 of lower part of the stem often spongy-thickened. 



4. L. polycarpa, Short & Peter. Leaves narrowly lanceolate, acute at 

 both ends; those of the runners oblong-spatulatp, acute, entire; bractlets linear- 



