402 ACANTHACEAE. 



3. GERARDIA [Plum.] L. Sp. PL 610. 1753. 

 [STENANDRIUM Nees, in Lindl. Introd. Nat. Syst. ed. 2, 444. 1836.] 



Low and small pubescent perennial herbs, acaulescent or nearly so, the 

 leaves in a basal tuft, the pink or purple flowers spicate on bracted scapes. 

 Calyx-lobes 5, narrow, nearly equal. Corolla with a slender tube, enlarged into 

 a slightly curved throat, the oblique 5-lobed limb spreading, the lobes unequal 

 and imbricated. Stamens 4, didynamous, included, the anthers 1-celled. Ovules 

 2 in each cavity of the ovary; stigma 2-lobed. Capsule fusiform or narrowly 

 oblong. Seeds flattened, rough or pubescent. [Commemorates John Gerardi, 

 1545-1607, famous English herbalist.] About 25 species, of tropical and sub- 

 tropical America. Type species: Gerardia tuberosa L. 



Bracts linear to linear-lanceolate, the lower 37 mm. long ; leaves 



entire. 1. G. droseroides. 



Bracts lanceolate, the lower 1 cm. long ; leaves repand-dentate or 



undulate. 2. G. tracteosa. 



1. Gerardia droseroides (Nees) Blake, Ehodora 20: 68. 1918. 



Stenandrium droseroides Nees, in DC. Prodr. 11 : 284. 1847. 



Pubescent all over with soft hairs. Basal leaves forming small tufts, 

 membranous, oblong, entire, 34.5 cm. long, rounded or obtuse at the apex, the 

 petioles as long as the blades or shorter; scapes slender, 8-15 cm. high; spikes 

 slender, several-many-flowered; bracts linear to linear-lanceolate, 3-7 mm. 

 long, acuminate; calyx-lobes linear, 2-3 mm. long; corolla white, its tube 3-4 

 mm. long, about as long as the lips; filaments very short; capsule oblong, 

 acute, glabrous, 4-5 mm. long; seeds suborbicular. 



Pine-lands, Abaco and New Providence : Cuba. SUNDEW GERARDIA. 



2. Gerardia bracteosa Britton & Millspaugh, sp. nov. 



Pubescent all over with long soft hairs. Basal leaves in large tufts, 7 cm. 

 long or less, firm in texture, the flat petioles of the larger ones as long as the 

 blades or longer, the blades oblong to tfblong-obovate, 2-3.5 cm. long, 8-18 mm. 

 wide, undulate or nearly entire, obtuse or acutish at the apex, narrowed at the 

 base ; scapes rather stout, 10-20 cm. high, naked toward the base, but floriferous 

 for nearly two-thirds their length; bracts lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, acute 

 or acuminate, 8-12. mm. long; calyx-lobes linear, acute about 6 mm. long; 

 corolla pink, about 17 mm. long, the tube somewhat shorter than the larger 

 lobes of the limb; anthers nearly sessile; capsule oblong, about 8 mm. long; 

 seeds suborbicular. 



Fields and coppices, Mariguana (P. Wilson 7^72, type; 7W). 



Apparently the same as Egger's 3969, from Acklin's Island, referred by Lindau 

 to Stenandrium rupestre (Sw.) Nees = Gerardia tuberosa L. BRACTED GERARDIA. 



4. ANTHACANTHUS Nees; DC. Prodr. 11: 460. 1847. 



Slender, much-branched shrubs armed with opposite axillary, curved or 

 straight spines, the leaves small, entire, often fascicled in the axils, the solitary 

 or fascicled flowers axillary, slender-peduncled. Calyx 5-cleft. Tube of the 

 small corolla cylindric, somewhat enlarged above, the limb spreading, unequally 

 5-lobed. Stamens 2; filaments short; anthers oblong, 2-celled; staminodia 2, 

 clavate or filiform. Style filiform; ovules 2 in each cavity of the ovary. 

 Capsule oblong, stipitate. Seeds 4 or fewer, compressed, tubercled. [Greek, 

 spiny flower.] About 6 species, natives of the West Indies. Type species: 

 Justicia spinosa Jacq. 



