BORUAGINACE^. (bOUAGE FAMILY.) 3G1 



6. Mertensla. Nutlets fleshy, fixed by tlie inner angle. Lobes of the corolla roundud. 



■<- ■>- Lobes of the short salver-shnped corolla convolute in the bud. 



7. M'yosotis. Nutlets hard and smooth. Flowers all or most of them bractUss. 



» * » « Corolla with 5 scales closing the throat. Nutlets prickly, laterally fixed to the central 

 column or the base of the style, often recuuiljent. 



8. EcUinospermum. Corolla salver-shaped. Nutlets eiwct, prickly on the margin 



9. Cyuu^loasuiu. Corolla fuiinet-furm. Nutlets oblique or depressed, prickly all over. 

 Tribe II. HELIOTROPEjE. Ovary not lobed, tipped with the simple style : the fruit 



sei)arating when ripe into 2 or 4 nutlets. 



10. Helioti-opluhi. Throat of the short salver-shaped corolla open. Nutlets l-celled. 



11. Ileliophytum. Throat of the corolla contracted. Nutlets 2, each 2-celled, i. c. 4 iu 2 



pairs and sometimes a pair of empty false cells. 



1. ECHIUM, Touni. Viper's BiTGLOSS. 



Corolla with a cylindraccous or funnel-forin tube, and a more or less unequal 

 spreading .5-Iobcd border ; the lobes rounded, the expanded throat naked. Sta- 

 mens mostly cxserted, unequal. Style thread-form. Nutlets roughened or 

 wrinkled, fixed by a flat base. (A name of Dioscorides, from exis, a viper.) 



1. E. vulg.\re, L. (Blue-weed.) Rough-bristly biennial; stem erect 

 (2° high), mostly simple; stem-leaves linear-lanceolate, sessile ; floAvers showy, 

 in short lateral clusters, disposed in a long and narrow raceme ; corolla reddish- 

 purple changing to brilliant blue (rarely pale). — Roadsides and meadows : rather 

 rare northward ; but a troublesome weed in ciiltivatetl fields in Virginia. June. 

 (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. LYCOPSIS, L. BuGEOss. 



Corolla funnel-shaped, with a curved tube and a slightly unequal limb ; the 

 throat clo.sed with 5 convex obtuse bristly scales placed- opposite the lobes. Sta- 

 mens and style included. Nutlets rough-wrinkled, erect, fixed by a hollowed- 

 out base. — Annuals. (Name from 'Kvkos, a ivolf, and o^is, fnce.) 



1. L. ARVENSis, L. (SiM.\LL BuGLOSs.) Very rough-bristly (l°high); 

 leaves lanceolate ; flowers in leafy raceme-like clusters ; calyx as long as the tube 

 of the small blue corolla. — Dry or sandy fields. New England to Virginia: 

 scarce. (Adv. from Eu.) 



3. SYMPHYTUM, Tourn. Comfret. 



Corolla oblong-tubular, inflated above, 5-toothed ; the short teeth spreading ; 

 the throat closed with .5 converging linear-awl-shaped scales. Stamens included ; 

 anthers elongated. Style thread-form. Nutlets smooth, ovate, erect, fixed by 

 the large hollowed base, which is finely toothed on its margin. — Coarse peren- 

 nial herbs, with thickened bitterish mucilaginous roots ; the nodding raccmc-liko 

 clusters cither single or in pairs. (Name from cri;/i^eli', to grow tojether, proba- 

 bly in allusion to its re])uted healing virtues.) 



1. S. officx.v.Vle, L. (C(i.M.MON CoMFREY.) Hairy, branched, winged 

 above by the dccurrcnt leaves ; the lower leaves ovatc-lanceolatc, tapering into 

 a petiole, the upper n.arrowcr ; corolla yellowish-white, rarely purplish. — Moist 

 places ; cscajxid from gardens. June. ( Adv. from Eu. ) 

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