ON AG RACEME 139 



AMELANCHIER Medicus. 



Amelanchier vulgaris Moench. (Aronia rotundifolia Pers.). (Plate 

 XVIII.) 



A shrub of from 3 to 6 feet high. Leaves ovate, obtuse, finely 

 toothed, white tomentose beneath, but finally glabrous and leathery, 

 blade twice the length of the petiole. Flowers white, in small 

 corymbs. Petals 5, rather long and narrow. Styles 5, united at the 

 base. Ovary inferior. Fruit globular, pulpy, sweet, as large as a 

 large pea, bluish black at maturity. 



Rocks, dry hillsides, and stony places in the lower mountains, 

 especially in the south. The bit figured came from above Argentiere, 

 in Savoy, at about 4500 feet. Flowers, April, May ; fruit, August, 

 September. 



Distribution. Central and Southern Europe, Western Asia, 

 N. Africa. It seems to prefer limestone hills. 



ONAGRACE.E 



Herbs with opposite or alternate leaves, and often showy flowers, 

 which are usually regular, 4-merous or 2-merous. Calyx-lobes 2 or 4, 

 valvate in bud. Petals 2 or 4. Stamens 2-8. Ovary 2-6 celled, 

 when many-seeded with axillary placentation. 



A considerable family, ranging over the whole world, but in the 

 greatest variety in N. America. 



EPILOBIUM L. Willow-herb. 



Herbs mostly erect, with annual flowering stems and creeping 

 stolons. Flowers axillary or in terminal spikes. Calyx-tube long, 

 slender, with 4-partite limb. Petals 4. Stamens 8. Ovary 4-celled. 

 Stigma 4-lobed. Seeds tipped with a tuft of long hairs. 



This genus is diffused over nearly the whole world, from the 

 extreme Arctic regions to the tropics. 



Epilobium alpinum L. 



Allied to E. alsinefolium, but much smaller in its leaves, flowers 

 and stature. Stem 2-6 inches high, erect, or ascending from a 

 creeping base, simple, 2-sided from 2 downy lines running down from 

 the margins of the leaves, otherwise glabrous, like the leaves. 

 Leaves obtuse, entire, or with a few small teeth. Upper leaves 

 lanceolate, alternate. Flowers small, rose-coloured in the axils 

 of the uppermost leaves. Stigma club-shaped. Capsule glabrous, 

 with a few scattered hairs. 



Damp, sandy places by springs and streams in the Alps and lower 

 Alps up to 8600 feet. July, August. 



Distribution. Mountains of Europe, including the Arctic regions, 

 N. America, Central and Northern Asia. British. 



