Vol. III.] 



FIGWORT FAMILY. 



175 



25. GERARDIA L. Sp. PI. 610. 1753. 



Erect branching annual or perennial herbs, some South American species shrubby, 

 mainly with opposite and sessile leaves. Flowers showy, usually large, purple, violet, yel- 

 low, red, or rarely white, racemose, or paniculate, or solitary and axillary. Calyx campanu- 

 late, 5-toothed, or 5-lobed. Corolla somewhat irregular, campanulate, or funuelform, the 

 tube broad, short, or elongated, the limb 5-lobed, slightly 2-lipped, the lower lobes exterior 

 in the bud. Stamens 4, didynamous, included; filaments more or less pubescent; anthers 

 2-celled, their sacs obtuse or mucronate at the base, style filiform. Capsule globose or 

 ovoid, loculicidally dehiscent, many-seeded. Seeds numerous, mostly angled. [Named for 

 John Gerarde, surgeon and botanist, author of the Herbal (1597) died 1612.] 



About 40 species, natives of America. Besides the following, some 10 others occur in the 

 southern United States. Most of the species blacken in drying. 



4f Flowers pedicelled ; anthers all alike. 

 Pedicels in flower shorter than the calyx, or but 1-2 times as long. 

 Corolla io"-i3" long. 



Calyx-teeth minute; root perennial. 



Calyx-teeth triangular, lanceolate or oblong, acute; annuals. 

 Leaves very scabrous, filiform; capsule oblong. 

 Leaves slightly scabrous, linear; capsule globose. 

 Corolla 5" -8" long. 



Calyx-teeth triangular-subulate, acute. 

 Calyx-teeth broad, short, obtuse. 

 Pedicels in flower 2-6 times as long as the calyx. 



Leaves linear, spreading or ascending; capsule globose. 

 Leaves %"-i" wide, M'-i'A' long; pedicels spreading. 



1. G. linifolia. 



2. G. aspera. 



3. G. purpurea. 



G. paupercula. 

 G. maritima. 



Leaves i"-2" wide, iH's' long; pedicels ascending. 



Leaves subulate, short, nearly erect; capsule oblong 



Sf -X- Flowers sessile ; anthers of the shorter stamens smaller. 



Leaves lanceolate or ovate lanceolate, entire or nearly so. 9 



Leaves pinnately divided into 3-7 linear-segments 



6. G. teuuifolia. 



7. G. Besseyana. 



8. G. Skmneriafia. 



to. 



G. aariculala. 

 G. densiflora. 



i. Gerardia linifolia Nutt. Flax-leaved 

 Gerardia. (Fig. 3308.) 

 Gerardia linifolia Nutt. Gen. 2:47. 1818. 



Perennial, glabrous and smooth; stem branched, 2-3 

 high. Leaves narrowly linear, i / -2 / long, \"-\]/ 2 " wide, 

 erect, the upper much smaller and subulate; pedicels 

 erect, in flower equalling or a little longer than the calyx, 

 longer in fruit; calyx campanulate, truncate, its teeth 

 minute; corolla purple, about i' long, narrower than that 

 of the two following species, villous within, the lobes 

 ciliate; filaments and anthers densely villous; anther-sacs 

 mucronate at the base; capsule globose, i"-t/' in diam- 

 eter, but little longer than the calyx. 



In moist pine barrens, Delaware to Florida. Also in Cuba. 

 Aug.-Sept. 



2. Gerardia aspera Dougl. Rough Purple 



Gerardia. (Fig. 3309.) 

 G. aspera Dougl.; Benth. in DC. Prodr. 10: 517. 1846. 



Annual, i-2 high, hispidulous-scabrous with 

 rough stiff short whitish hairs, branched, the branches 

 nearly erect. Leaves narrow y linear, \ f -i]/ z f long, 

 less than i // wide, erect or ascending; pedicels equal- 

 ling or becoming longer than the turbinate calyx; 

 calyx-teeth triangular-ovate or triangular-lanceolate, 

 acute, one-fourth to one-third as long as the tube; 

 corolla deep purple, about i / long, nearly or quite 

 glabrous within, very pubescent without, the lobes 

 ciliate; filaments villous; anthers all alike, obtuse at 

 the base; capsule oblong, 2> // ~A // tiigli, considerably 

 longer than the calyx. 



On dry plains and prairies, Indiana to South Dakota, south to Missouri and Arkansas. 



Aug. -Oct. 



