234 



CAPRIFOLIACEAE. 



[Vol. III. 



3. TRIOSTEUM h. Sp. PI. 176. 1753. 



Perennial herbs, with simple terete stems and opposite connate-perfoliate or sessile leaves 

 narrowed below the middle. Flowers axillary, perfect, solitary or clustered, sessile, yellow- 

 ish, green, or purplish, 2-bracted. Calyx-tube ovoid, its limb 5-lobed, the lobes elongated, 

 persistent and sometimes foliaceous in our species. Corolla-tube narrow or campauulate, 

 gibbous at the base, the limb oblique, unequally lobed. Stamens 5, inserted on the corolla- 

 tube; filaments very short; anthers linear, included. Ovary 3-5-celled; ovules 1 in each 

 cavity; style filiform; stigma 3-5-lobed. Drupe coriaceous, orange or red, enclosing 2-3 

 (rarely 4-5) i-seeded nutlets. Endosperm fleshy; embryo minute. [Greek, three-bone, 

 from the 3 bony nutlets.] 



Five known species, the following- of eastern North America, two Japanese, one Himalayan. 

 Leaves ovate or oval; flowers purplish. i. T. perfoliatum. 



Leaves lanceolate or oval -lanceolate; flowers yellowish. 2. T. angushfolium. 



i. Triosteum perfoliatum L. Fever-wort. Horse-Gentian. (Fig. 3448.) 



Triosteum perfoliatum L. Sp. PI. 176. 1753. 



Stem erect, stout, finely glandular-pubes- 

 cent, or sometimes hirsute, i-\ high. 

 Leaves ovate to broadly oval, 4 / -Q / long, 2'- 

 4' wide, acute or acuminate at the apex, ab- 

 ruptly or gradually narrowed at the base, 

 sessile, or connate-perfoliate, soft-pubescent 

 beneath, somewhat hairy above, the margins 

 entire or sinuate; bracts linear; corolla pur- 

 plish-brown, 6 // -io // long, viscid-pubescent, 

 about the length of the calyx-lobes; filaments 

 bearded; drupe 4 // -6 // long, obovoid-globose, 

 orange-red, densely and finely pubescent; 

 nutlets usually 3. 



In rich soil, Quebec and Ontario to Minnesota, 

 south to Alabama, Kentucky and Kansas. 

 Called also Fever-root, Wild or Wood Ipecac, Tin- 

 ker's-weed, Wild Coffee, Horse-Ginseng, White 

 Gentian. Ascends 3000 ft. in Virginia. May-July. 



2. Triosteum angustifolium I,. 

 Yellow or Narrow-leaved Horse- 

 Gentian. (Fig. 3449.) 



Triosteum angustifolium L- Sp. PL 176. 1753. 



Resembling the preceding species, but the 

 stem slender and hirsute-pubescent, i-3 

 hi . Leaves lanceolate or oval-lanceolate, 

 acute or acuminate at the apex, 3 / -5 / long, 

 Yz'-iyi' wide, rough-pubescent, tapering to 

 the sessile base, or the lower smaller, obtuse 

 and spatulate; corolla yellowish, 6 // -7 // long; 

 flowers commonly solitary in the axils. 



In rich soil. Connecticut and Long Island, to 

 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Alabama, 

 Illinois and Louisiana. May- Aug. 



4. LINNAEA L. Sp. PI. 631. 1753. 



Creeping, somewhat woody herbs, with opposite evergreen petioled obovate or orbicular 

 leaves, and perfect pink or purplish flowers borne in pairs at the summit of elongated ter- 

 minal peduncles. Calyx-tube ovoid, the limb 5-lobed. Corolla tubular-campanulate, regu- 

 lar, 5-lobed, the lobes imbricate. Stamens 4, inserted near the base of the corolla-tube, didy- 

 namous, included. Ovary 3-celled, 2 of the cavities with several abortive ovules, the other 

 with 1 perfect pendulous ovule. Fruit nearly globose, 3-celled, 2 of the cells empty, the 

 other with a single oblong seed. Endosperm fleshy; embryo cylindric. [Named by Grono- 

 viusfor Linnaeus, with whom the plant was a favorite.] 



A monotypic genus of the north temperate zone. 



