Vol. III.] 



PLANTAIN FAMILY. 



211 



14. Plantago arenaria \V. & K. 

 Plantain. (Fig. 3391.) 



Sand 



Plantago arenaria W. & K. PI. Rar. Hung, i: 51. pi. 51. 

 1802. 



Annual, pubescent, somewhat viscid; stem simple, 

 or commonly becoming much branched-, leafy, 3 / -i5 / 

 high. Leaves opposite, or whorled, narrowly linear, 

 entire, sessile, i / ~3 / long, about \" wide; peduncles 

 axillary, often umbellate at the ends of the stem and 

 branches, slender, as long as the leaves or longer; 

 heads of flowers conic, oval, or subglobose, 5 // -io // 

 long, about 5" thick; lower bracts acute or acumi- 

 nate; calyx- lobes unequal; corolla-lobes ovate to lan- 

 ceolate, acute; capsule 2-seeded. 



Dayton, Ohio. Adventive or fugitive from central 

 Europe. Summer. 



2. LITTORELLA L> Mant. 2: 295. 1771. 



A low perennial succulent herb, with linear entire basal leaves and monoecious flowers, 

 the staminate solitary or two together at the summits of slender scapes, the pistillate sessile 

 among the leaves. Sepals 4. Corolla of the staminate flowers with a somewhat urceolate 

 tube, and a spreading 4-lobed limb. Corolla of the pistillate flowers urn-shaped, 3-4-toothed. 

 Staminate flowers with 4 long-exserted stamens, their filaments filiform, the anthers ovate. 

 Pistillate flowers with a single ovary and a long-exserted filiform style. Fruit an indehiscent 

 i-seeded nutlet. [Latin, shore.] 



A monotypic genus of Europe and northern North America. 



i. Littorella uniflora (L.) Rushy. Plan- 

 tain Shore-weed. Shore-grass. 

 (Fig. 3392.) 



Plantago uniflora L. Sp. PI. 115. 1753- 



Littorella lacustris L. Mant. 2: 295. 1771. 



Littorella uniflora Rusby, Mem. Torr. Club, 5: 301. 1894. 



Tufted, usually growing in mats; leaves bright 

 green, I/-3' long, }i // -i // wide, spreading or as- 

 cending, mostly longer than the scapes of the stam- 

 inate flowers, which bear a small bract at about the 

 middle; sepals lanceolate, mostly obtuse, with a 

 dark green midrib and lighter margins, sometimes 

 only 3 in the fertile flowers; stamens conspicuous, 

 4 // -6 // long; corolla-lobes ovate, subacute; pistil- 

 late flowers very small; nutlet about \" long. 



Borders of lakes and ponds, Maine and Vermont to 

 Nova Scotia and Ontario. July-Aug. 



Family 34. RUBIACEAE B. Juss. Hort. Trian. 1759. 



Madder Family. 

 Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with simple, opposite or sometimes verticillate, 

 mostly stipulate leaves, and perfect, often dimorphous or trimorphous, regular 

 and nearly symmetrical flowers. Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary, its limb var- 

 ious. Corolla gamopetalous, funnelform, club-shaped, campanulate, or rotate, 

 4-5-lobed, often pubescent within. Stamens as many as the lobes of the corolla 

 and alternate with them, inserted on its tube or throat; anthers mostly linear- 

 oblong. Ovary 1-10-celled; style short or elongated, simple or lobed; ovules 

 1-00 in each cavity. Fruit a capsule, berry, or drupe. Seeds various; seed- 

 coat membranous or crustaceous; endosperm fleshy or horny (wanting in some 

 exotic genera); cotyledons ovate, cordate, or foliaceous. 



