184 CACTACEuE. (CACTUS FAMILY.) 



4. CUP HE A, Jacq. Cupiiea. 



Calyx tubular, 12-ribbocl, somcwbat inflated below, gibbous or spurred at the 

 base on tbc upper side, C-tootlied at the apex, and usually with a.s many little 

 processes in the sinuses. Petals 6, very unequal. Stamens mostly 12, appro.xi- 

 inate in 2 sets, included, unequal. Ovary with a curved <.rlaiul at the base next 

 the spur of the calyx, 1 - 2-celled : style slender : stij^ma 2-lobed. Pod oblong, 

 few-seeded, early ruptured through one side. — Flowers solitary or racemose, 

 stalked. (Name from Kv<ji6s, gibbous, from the shape of the calyx, &c.) 



1. C. viseosissima, Jacq. (Clammy Cupuea.) Annual, very viscid- 

 hairy, branching : leaves ovate-lanceolate ; petals ovate, short-clawed, purple. 

 — Dry fields, from Connecticut to Illinois, and southward. Aug. — Seeds flat, 

 borne on one side of the placenta, which is early forced out the ruptured pod. 



Order 42. L.OASACJEiE. (Loasa Family.) 



Herbft, icith a rough or si ingiiu/ pubescence, no stipules, the cahjx-tube ad- 

 herent to a l-cclled ovary with 2 or 3 parietal placcntte; — represented here 

 only by the genus 



1. MENTZELIA, Plumicr. (Bart6nia, Nutt.) 



Calyx-tube cylindrical or club-shaped ; the limb 5-parted, persistent. Petals 

 5 or 10, regular, spreading, flat, convolute in the Inul, deciduous. Stamens in- 

 definite, rarely few, inserted with the petals on the throat of the calyx. Styles 

 3, more or less united into one : stigmas terminal, minute. Pod at length dry 

 and opening irregularly, few - many-seeded. Seeds flat, anatropous, with little 

 albumen. — Stems erect. Leaves alternate. Flowei-s terminal, soHtary or cy- 

 mose-clustered. (Dedicated to C. Mentzd, an early German botanist.) 



1. M. oligosperma, Nutt. Rough and adhesive (l°-30 high), much 

 branched, the brittle branches spreading; leaves ovate and oblong, cut-toothed 

 or angled; flowers yellow (7"- 10" broad), opening in sunshine; petals wedge- 

 oblong, pointed ; stamens 20 or more: filaments fililbrm : pod small, about 9- 

 seeded. — Prairies and plains, Illinois, and on the western jjlains ; — wliei-e M. 

 OKNATA and M. nuda, with large white flowers, arc showy representatives of 

 the genus. 



Ordkr 43. CACTACEJE. (Cactus Family.) 



Flesh >/ anil tliickemd mnstlij lea/less j)lauls, of jttculiar asjicci, (/lobular, 

 or columnar and inanij-amjled, or jlattcned and jointed, usualhj willi prickles. 

 Flowers solitary, sessile ; the sepals and petals numerous, imbricated in sev- 

 eral rows, adherent to the l-celled ovary. — Stamens numerous, with long 

 and slender filaments, inserted on the inside of the tube or cup formed by 

 the union of the sepals and petals. Style 1 : stigmas numerous. Fruit a 

 l-celled berry, with numerous campylotropous seeds on several parietal 

 placenta;. — Represented east of the Mississippi only by the genus 



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