266 PRIMULACE^. [HoxiONiA. 



7. HOTTO'NIA, L. WATER VlOLET. 



Floating herbs. Leaves submerged, imperfectly whorled, pectinate and 

 multifid. Flowers racemose, dimorphic, white or lilac, honeyed ; pedicels 

 whorled. Calyx 5-partite. Corolla salver-shaped, throat thickened ; 

 limb 5-partite, fringed at the base. Stamens 5, included. Ovary globose ; 

 style filiform, persistent, stigma obtuse ; ovules many, anatropous. 

 Capsule 5-valved ; valves cohering at the top, many-seeded. Seeds angled, 

 hilum basilar. DISTRIB. Europe, N.W. Asia, N. America; species 2. 

 ETYM. Pierre Hotton, an early Leyden professor of botany. 



H. palus'tris, L. ; sepals subacute equalling the corolla tube. 



Ponds and marshes, local, from Durham and Westmoreland to Somerset and 

 Kent ; Co. Down in Ireland ; fl. May- June. Perennial, pale green, glabrous, 

 except the slightly glandular-hairy inflorescence. Branches as thick as a 

 goosequill, succulent, leafy, 6-10 in., radiating from the base of the scape, 

 floating and rooting ; joints not inflated. Leaves 1-2 in., segments slender, 

 linear, acute. Scape 1-2 ft., stout, erect. Whorls 4-8-fld. ; pedicels f-1^ 

 in., decurved in fruit; bracts linear. Flowers dimorphic, some cleistoga- 

 mous. Calyx-lobes % in., linear. Corolla f in. diam., lilac with a yellow eye ; 

 lobes obtuse. Capsule the size of a small pea. DISTRIB. Europe (excl. 

 Spain, Greece, Turkey), W. Siberia. 



8. SA'MOLUS, Tournef. BROOK-WEED. 



Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate or mostly radical. Flowers 

 in terminal racemes or corymbs, white ; pedicels bracteate. Calyx J- 

 superior, limb 5-fid. Corolla perigynous, subcampanulate, 5-partite. Stamens 

 5, on the tube or throat of the corolla, alternating with staminodes, 

 filaments very short. Ovary subglobose ; style short, stigma obtuse or 

 capitate ; ovules many, anatropous. Capsule J-inferior, ovoid, 5-valved 

 above the calyx- tube, many-seeded. Seeds angular, hilum basilar. 

 DISTRIB. Temp, climates ; species about 8. ETYM. obscure. 



S. Valeran'di, L. ; leaves obovate or spathulate obtuse or apiculate, 

 quite entire, radical rosulate. 



Wet ground and ditches, often near the sea, from Skye and Elgin southd. ; 

 Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. June-Sept. Glabrous, rather shining. Root- 

 stock short. Stem 1-2 ft., erect, with prostrate or ascending sometimes 

 rooting branches from the base. Leaves 1-4 in., cauline alternate. Racemes 

 ^-| in., erect ; pedicels ascending ; bracts adnate to above their middle, 

 small, lanceolate. Calyx-tube hemispherical ; lobes deltoid, acute. Corolla 

 in. diam., lobes short, obtuse. Stamens included. Capsule J in. diam., 

 globose. Seeds rough. DISTRIB. Temp. N. hemisphere, Himalaya. 



