QIQ TLANTAGINACE.'!':. Lippiu. 



1. L. lycioides, Steudel. tSluubby, 4 to 10 feet liigh, minutely pubenilent : 

 branches lung and .slender ; brancldets sometimes spinescent : leaves luneeolato- 

 oblong, obtuse (a (punter to a full inch long), narrowed at base into a slight petiole, 

 1-nerved, nc^arly veinless, roughish above, on llowcring stems commonly entire : 

 llowors small, vanilla-scented, in slcnd(3r naked spikes : calyx very liirsute, 4-clel't : 

 corolla barely 2 lines long, while or bluish, 4-lobed. 



No. 548 iu the Caliruniiaii collection of Coulter. More likely collected in the Mexican prov- 

 ince of Sonora, wheic it was found by Dr. Palnier, whence it extends eastward to Texas. ALso 

 a native of IJuenos Ayres, kc. 



2. L. nodiflora, Michx. Perennial ] herb, creeping extensively, minutely cine- 

 reous-pubescent or nearly glabrous : leaves cuneate-spatulate or oblanceolate, sessile 

 or nearly so, obscurely veined or veinless, the tapering base entire, from the middle 

 to the apox sharply serrate : peduncles erect from the rooting joints, 1 to 4 inches 

 long, much exceeding the leaves : flowers in a globular or at length cylindraceous 

 liead, a quarter of an inch thick : bracts closely imbricated : calyx compressed 

 fore and aft, 2-clel't, 2-carinate, the lobes contluidicate, linear-lanceolate, lateral : 

 corolla purplish or white, bilabiate: fruit corky, not readily separating into the 2 

 nutlets. — Zapania itodijiora, Lam. Lqijtia tanceoliUa, Torr. Bot. Wilkes Exp., 

 403, not of Michx. 



Hanks of tlie Lower Saciamento and San Joaquin to the Rio Colorado: east to Texas and 

 Florida ; and widely dispersed over the warm regions of the world. Includes several nominal 

 species. 



Order LXXV. PLANTAGINACE-ffiS. 



Steraless lierbs with flowers in spikes, the 4-cleft regular corollas dry and scarious, 

 consisting almost wholly of the genus, 



1. PLANTAGO, Linn. Plantain. Ribgrass. 



Flowers i)erfect, or st)nietimos more or less dittcious, in a spike or head, each sub- 

 tended by a bract. Calyx of 4 persistent imbiicated sepals, free from the ovary. 

 Corolla hypogynous, of scarious texture, veinless, withering-persistent, short salver- 

 form ; its limb 4-parted, imbricated in the bud. Stamens 2 to 4, inserted on the 

 corolla alternate with its lobes ; filaments commonly long and flaccid in anthesis : 

 anthers versatile, 2-celled, opening lengthwise. Ovary 2-celled, or by a false parti- 

 tion in some 3 -'4-celled, with one or more amphitropous ovules in each cell : stylo 

 filiform, all the upper part pubescent or bearded and stigraatic. Fruit a membrana- 

 ceous or coriaceous capsule, circumscissile towards the base, the upper part falling 

 away as a lid, carrying with it the loose partition, which bears one or more peltate 

 seeds on each face. Seed-coat mucilaginous when wet. Embryo straight, about 

 the length of the fleshy albumen. — ]\Iostly stemless herbs, with nerved or ribbed 

 radical loaves, and naked scapes of suuiU mostly greenish flowers. 



A lar^fo Kcnns, widely diHtiihuted over the world, iniiinly in the temperate zones, In Kuropo 

 ftocompnnicd by a niondicious genus, Liltonllti, but otherwise having no obvious near relation- 

 sliip. The North American species are few. 



§ 1. Floivers all alike and 'perfect, with the 4 stamens and long style both much ex- 

 sei'ted, hut at different pei-iods, i. e. the latter while the stamens are still in the 

 unopened corolla, these protruded by the elongation of the slender filaments a 

 day or two later, after the stigma has begun to toither : lobes of the corolla not 

 closed after fi/)ivering. 



