286 ERICACEAE. (HEATH FAMILY.) 



flowers numerous on the branches of the large compound panicle, calyx-lobes awl- 

 shaped, about half the length of the pale-blue small corolla (of 3" long) ; style 

 protruded. Dry woods and rocks, mountains of Virginia, Kentucky, and 

 southward. 



H- - Flowers numerous and nearly sessile, crowded in a long more or less leafy spike: 

 corolla almost wheel-shaped, deeply 5-lobed: pods erect. 



4. C. Americana, L. (TALL BELLFLOWER.) Stem mostly simple 

 (3- 6 high ) ; leaves ovate and ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed, serrate, mostly 

 on margined petioles, thin, somewhat hairy (2' - 6' long) ; the slender style 

 protruded and curved. Moist rich soil, New York to Wisconsin, and south- 

 ward. Spike 1 - 2 long. Corolla light blue, 1' broad. Root annual. 



# European species escaped from gardens into roadsides ; both perennials. 



5. C. GLOMERA.TA, L. (CLUSTERED B. ) Somewhat hairy, stout and erect, 

 1 high; stem-leaves oblong or lanceolate, cordate-clasping; flowers sessile, 

 clustered in the upper axils, forming a leafy head ; corolla open-bell-shaped, 1' 

 long. Danvers, Mass., &c. (Adv. from Eu.) 



6. C. RAPUNCULoiDES, L. Smoothish, slender, erect ; stem-leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, pointed, the lower long-petioled and heart-shaped ; flowers nodding, 

 single in the axil of bracts, forming racemes ; corolla oblong, 1' long. E. Mas- 

 sachusetts ; and Richfield Springs, New York, G. W. Clinton. (Adv. from Eu.) 



2. SPECTJLARIA, Heister. VENUS'S LOOKING-GLASS. 



Calyx 5- (or 3 -4-) lobed. Corolla wheel-shaped, 5-lobed. Stamens 5, sepa- 

 rate ; the membranaceous hairy filaments shorter than the anthers. Stigmas 3. 

 Pod prismatic or elongated-oblong, 3-celled, opening by 3 small lateral valves. 

 Low annuals ; the earlier flowers in the American species ( TRIODALLUS, 

 Raf. ) minute and fruiting precociously in the bud, without expanding their im- 

 perfect corolla. (Name from Speculum Veneris, the early name of the common 

 European species.) 



1. S. perfoliata, A. DC. Somewhat hairy (3' - 20' high) ; leaves round- 

 ish or ovate, clasping by the heart-shaped base, toothed ; flowers sessile, solitary 

 or 2-3 together in the axils ; the upper or later ones only with a conspicuous 

 and expanding (purple-blue) corolla ; pod oblong, opening rather below the 

 middle. Sterile open ground : common. May - Aug. 



ORDER 56. ERICACEAE. (HEATH FAMILY.) 



Shrubs , sometimes herbs, with the flowers regular or nearly so : the stamens 

 as many or twice as many as the 4 - 5-lobed or 4 - 5-petalled corolla, free 

 from but inserted with it : anthers 2-celled, commonly appendaged or open- 

 ing by terminal chinks or pores, introrse (except in Suborder 3) : style 1 : 

 ovary 3-lQ-celled. Pollen compound, of 4 united grains, except in Sub- 

 order 4. Seeds small, anatropous. Embryo small, or sometimes minute, 

 in fleshy albumen. A large family, very various in many of the charac- 

 ters, comprising four well-marked suborders, as follows : 



