ONAGRACE^E. (EVENING-PRIMROSE FAMILY.) 129 



1. N. verticill:\ta, H. B. K. Smooth or downy; stems recurved (2- 

 8 long), 4-6-sided ; leaves lanceolate, nearly sessile, opposite or whorled, the 

 upper with clustered flowers in their axils on short pedicels ; petals 5, wedge- 

 lanceolate, rose-purple (' long) ; stamens 10, half of them shorter. (Decodon 

 verticillatum, Gmdin.) Swampy grounds, common. July - Sept. 



4. C tJF HE A, Jacq. CUPHEA. 



Calyx tubular, 12-ribbed, somewhat inflated below, gibbous or spurred at the 

 base on the upper side, 6-toothed at the apex, and usually with as many little 

 processes in the sinuses. Petals 6, very unequal. Stamens mostly 12, approxi- 

 mate in 2 sets, included, unequal. Ovary with a curved gland at the base next 

 the spur of the calyx, 1 - 2-celled : style slender : stigma 2-lobed. Pod oblong, 

 few-seeded, early ruptured through one side. Flowers solitary, stalked. (Name 

 from KV</>OS, gibbous, from the shape of the calyx, &c.) 



1. C. viscosissima, Jacq. (CLAMMY CUPHEA.) Annual, very vis- 

 cid-hairy, branching ; leaves ovate-lanceolate ; petals ovate, short-clawed, purple. 

 Dry fields, New York to Penn., Kentucky, and southward. Aug. Seeds 

 flat, borne on one side of the placenta, which is early forced out the pod. 



ORDER 43. OJVAGRACE^E. (EVENING-PRIMROSE FAMILY.) 



Herbs, with ^-merous (sometimes 2 - 3-merous) flowers ; the tube of the 

 calyx cohering with the 2 - ^-celled ovary, its lobes valvate in the bud, or obso- 

 lete, the petals convolute in the bud, and the stamens as many or twice as 

 many as the petals or calyx -lobes. There are two suborders, viz. : 



SUBORDER I. ONAGRACE.3E PROPER. 



Calyx-tube often prolonged beyond the ovary ; the petals (rarely want-, 

 ing) and stamens inserted on its summit. Pollen-grains connected by cob- 

 webby threads. Style single, slender : stigma 2 - 4-lobed or capitate. Pod 

 loculicidally 4-celled and 4-valved, or indehiscent : placentas in the axis. 

 Seeds anatropous, no albumen. 



1. EPILOBITJM. Stamens 8. Petals 4. Seeds with a large downy tuft at the apex. 



2. (ENOTHERA Stamens 8. Petals 4. Calyx-tube prolonged. Seeds naked, numerous. 



3. GAURA. Stamens 8. Petals 4. Calyx-tube prolonged. Pod 1 - 4-seeded, indehiscent. 



4. JUSSLEA. Stamens 8 -12. Petals 4 -6. Calyx-tube not prolonged. Pod many-seeded. 

 5 LUDWIGIA. Stamens 4. Petals 4, or none. Calyx and pod as in No. 4. 



6. CIRCJEA. Stamens 2. Petals 2. Calyx slightly prolonged. Pod 1 -2-celled, 1 - 2- seeded 



SUBORDER II. HALORAGE^E. 



Calyx-tube not at all prolonged beyond the ovary, the lobes obsolete. 

 Petals often none. Stamens 1-8. Fruit indehiscent, 1- 4-celled, with a 

 solitary suspended seed in each cell. Albumen thin. Aquatic plants, 

 with very small axillary sessile flowers, often monoecious or dioecious. 



7. PROSERPINACA Stamens 3. Fruit 3-sided, 3-celled. Flowers perfect. 



8. MYRIOPHYLLUM. Stamens 4 - 8. Fruit 4-angled, 4-clled. Flowers monoecious. 



9. HIPPUHIS. Stamen 1. Fruit 1-celled. Style slender. Flowers perfect. 



