Rhexia. MELASTOMACEiE. 227 



1. RHEXIA. Linn. ; R. Br. in TucJcey's voy. p. 436 ; Endl, gen. 6200. RHEXIA. 



[A Greek name originally applied to a very different plant.] 



Tube of the calyx ovoid-ventricose at the base, contracted into a neck above ; the limb 4-cleft. 

 Petals 4, obovate or roundish. Anthers 8, uniform, not appendaged, one-celled. Style 

 somewhat declined : stigma obtuse. Capsule nearly free from the investing calyx-tube, 

 4-celled; the placentae projecting into the cells. Seeds cochleate. — Perennial herbs, with 

 ciliate, 3-nerved, mostly sessile leaves. Flowers showy, purple or yellow : petals caducous. 



1. Rhexia Virginica, Linn. Meadow Beauty. Deer-grass. 



Stem with winged angles, somewhat hispid ; leaves oval-lanceolate, acute, serrulate-ciliate, 

 sprinkled with bristly hairs above and on the ribs underneath ; calyx hispid, the tube above 

 the ovary longer than the segments. — Linn. sp. 1. p. 346 ; Michx. fl. 1. p. 222 ; Bot. mag. 

 t. 908 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 288 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 439 ; Bart. fl. Am. Sept. 1. «. 4 ; Torr. fl. 1. 

 p. 385 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 148 ; DC. prodr. 3. p. 121 ; Beck, hot. p. 127 ; Darlingt. fl,. 

 Cest. p. 242 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. I. p. 477. 



Stem about a foot high, cymosely dichotomous at the summit, with narrow winged angles 

 which are sparingly hispid. Leaves 1—2 inches long, closely sessile, acute, strongly 3-ribbed. 

 Flowers an inch in diameter, seldom more than two or three expanded at one time. Calyx- 

 tube beautifully urceolate ; the segments lanceolate, acuminate. Petals bright purple, obliquely 

 obovate, often hispid externally. Stamens shorter than the petals : anthers long and linear, 

 curved ; the connectivum furnished with a small subulate process at the insertion of the 

 filament. Style longer than the filaments, a little curved above. Capsule globose, enclosed 

 in the ventricose tube of the calyx. Seeds numerous, with a large umbilicus. 



Swamps and wet sandy places ; common. July - September. 



Order XL. LYTHRACE^E. Juss. The Loosestrife Tribe. 



Sepals combined into a 4 - 7-toothed calyx ; the sinuses sometimes produced 

 into accessary teeth or processes. Petals alternate with the teeth of the calyx 

 and inserted into its throat, very deciduous, sometimes wanting. Stamens as 

 many as the petals, or 2 - 4 times as many, inserted into the tube of the calyx. 

 Ovary enclosed in the calyx, but not adherent to it, 2 - 4-celled ; the placentae 

 in the axis. Style filiform, or very short. Capsule membranaceous, often one- 



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