214 IIALORAGE.Ii:. Ammannia. 



1. Ammannia. Calyx baruly 4-aiigled, short. Slaiiiens 4 or 8. Capsule globular. Leaves 



ojijiosile. 



2. Lythrum. Calyx striate, cylindrical. Petals commonly 6 (4 to 7), and stamens as many or 



sometimes twice as many. Capsule oblong or cylindraccous. 



1. AMMANNIA, Houston. 

 Calyx campuimlutc or short-tubuliir, usually 4-angle(l, 4-tootlie(.l, and with as 

 many intermediate small tooth-like processes. Petals as many, small and fugacious, 

 or none. Stamens usually 4. Capsule enclosed in the calyx, nearly globular, 

 mostly 4-celled. — Low and smooth annuals; stems 4-angled; leaves opposite, ses- 

 sile ; llowers small, axillary. 



A genus of about ;U) s|i(Tii's, inlialiiting swanijis and wet jilaces. Oidy 1 species are found in 

 the United Slates, of wiiieh the following is of wide range. 



1. A. latlfolia, Linn. Stems erect, a foot or two high, with a few spreading 

 branches : leaves linear-lanceolate, 1 to 3 inches long, with a broad auricled base, 

 acute: Howers 1 to 5 in each axil, mostly closely sessile: calyx oblong, 1^ lines 

 long, becoming 2 lines in diameter in fruit : stamens sometimes 8 : style variable in 

 length, as well as the lilaments. 



iianks of Cache Creek (iln/diulcr) ; Carson Valley, Nevada (IFnl.son) ; on the bower Colo- 

 rado (yy/(»iY) ; on Milk Ifivcr, N. Montana (.SVcZ/n/); also in the Southern Atlantic Slates, the 

 West Indies und Ihuzil. 



2. LYTHRUM, binn. Loosestrife. 



Calyx cylindrical, striate, 4 - 7-tuuthe(l, with as many intermediate ti>oth-like 



])rocesses. I'etals 4 to 7, oblong-obovate, often conspicuous and sometimes unequal. 



Stamens as many or twice as many. Capsule oblong, 2-celled. — Erect slender 



herbs (rarely woody at base) ; stems angled ; leaves linear-oblong or lanceolate, 



alternate, opposite, or rarely whorled ; flowers axillary, mostly solitary. 



A small genus, widely tlistributed over the world. Four or live species are found in the I'nited 

 States, one of which is polymorphous and extends across the continent. 



1. L. alatum, Pursh. Biennial or jierennial, herbaceous, with straight virgate 

 branches, a loot or two high, glabrous ; the stems angled and narrowly margined : 

 leaves oblong-ovate to narrowly lanceolate, sessile, acute, an inch long or less, tin; 

 upper scarcely exceeding the llowt^s ; the lowest (i|i|)osite, the restusuully scattered : 

 llowers solitary, siissile nr shortly pcdiccUud : calyx about ."} lines long, dticply fur- 

 rowed, the teeth usually little exceeding the intermediate processes: petals li, deep 

 purple, 2 lines long : stamens G : capsule narrow, nearly as long as the calyx. 



Var. linearifolium. Gray. Leaves linear, the lower cauline ones only some- 

 times lanceolate.^ I'l. Lindh. ii. 188. L. Cati/or/iicum, Turr. & Cray, Fl. i. 482. 

 L. lineare, Hook. iSi Arn. Pot. IJeechey, 343, not Linn. 



The variety only has been found in California, from Najja Valley to San Diego, and langing 

 eastward to New Mexico. The species is very variable, and extends from the nurtliern Atlantic 

 States to Mexico. 



Order XXXVIIL HALORAGE^. 



Aquatic herbs (as to the N. American rej)resentatives), with inconspicuous and 

 often apetalous flowers sessile in the axil of leaves or bracts, calyx adnate to the 

 ovary in the fertile ones, and its limb then short and almost entire or obsolete ; the 

 fruit indehiscent and nut-like, 1 -4-celleil, with a single anatropous seed suspended 

 from the summit of each cell ; embryo in the axis of copious albumen, its cotyledons 



