LYTHRACEJE. 



LYTHRUM. 



Calyx cylindrical, striated, with 4-6 broad teeth, and the 

 same number of alternate smaller subulate diverging ones. 

 Petals 4-6, alternate with the erect teeth of the calyx. Sta- 

 mens in the middle or at the base of the calyx, twice as nume- 

 rous as the petals or equal to them in number, or even fewer. 

 Style filiform. Stigma capitate. Capsule oblong, enclosed in 

 the calyx, 2-celled, many-seeded. Placentae thick, adhering to 

 the dissepiment. Leaves entire. Flowers purple or white. 



296. L. Salicaria Linn, sp.pl 640. EB. t. 1061. Fl. Lond. 

 t. 28. DC. prodr. iii. 82. S. and C. iii. t. 146. Ditches and 

 wet places in Europe, the West of Asia, New Holland, and 

 North America. 



Root woody, branching at the crown. Stems from 2 to 4 feet high, 

 erect, acutely quadrangular, either smooth or downy, leafy, generally 

 simple. Leaves nearly sessile, lanceolate, acute, entire, various in 

 length, the upper ones diminished to bracteas ; all mostly opposite ; but 

 there are occasionally 3, or even 4, in each whorl ; in which cases the 

 number of angles in the stem is likewise increased. Flowers in numer- 

 ous axillary whorls, 6 in each, of a variable crimson or purple, compos- 

 ing long leafy spikes. Six of the calyx-teeth are long and reddish; the 

 others minute. Anthers conspicuous, red, with green or yellow pollen. 

 Capsules elliptical, small. The herbage, generally almost smooth and 

 of a dark green, becomes in dry situations hoary and downy, or in 

 some degree hairy, as well as more dwarf in stature. Smith. An astrin- 

 gent, which has been recommended in inveterate cases of diarrhoea. 



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