PRIMULACE.E. (PRIMROSE FAMILY.) 315 



5. LYSIMACHIA, Tourn. LOOSESTRIFE. 



Calyx 5- (rarely 6-7-) parted. Corolla wheel-shaped, 5- (or 6 -7-) parted, 

 or even of as many separate petals. Stamens as many. Pod globose, 5-10- 

 valved, few -many-seeded. Leafy-stemmed perennials, with mostly yellow 

 flowers, either axillary or in a terminal raceme. (Named in honor of King 

 Lysimachus, or from Au'cris, a release from, fta^?;, strife.) 



1. NATJMBtJRGIA, Moench. Leaves opposite, sessile, minutely glandular-dotted : 

 parts of the flower not rarely 6, sometimes 7 ; the narrow petals almost or quite 

 distinct, and with an interposed small tooth, sprinkled with purplish dots : filaments 

 slender, distinct, equal : anthers short : pod few-seeded. 



1. L. thyrsifl6ra, L. (TUFTED LOOSESTRIFE.) Smooth; stem simple 

 (l-2 high) ; lower leaves reduced to scales, the rest lanceolate, the axils of 

 one or two pairs of the middle ones bearing a short-peduncled head-like or spike- 

 like cluster of light yellow small flowers ; divisions of the corolla lance-linear. 

 (Naumburgia thyrsiflora, Reichenb., and Ed. 2.) Cold wet swamps, from Penn. 

 northward. June, July. (Eu.) 



2. TRID YNIA, Raf. Leaves opposite or whorled, sessile, dotted : calyx and 

 golden-yellow corolla streaked with dark lines : filaments mostly unequal, plainly 

 monadelphous at the base, with no interposed sterile ones : anthers short : pod 5- 

 valved, ripening only 2-5 seeds. 



2. L. stricta, Ait. Smooth, at length branched, very leafy; leaves opposite 

 or rarely alternate, lanceolate, acute at each end ; flowers on slender pedicels in 

 a long raceme (5'- 12'), which is leafy at the bas"e ; or, in var. PRODUCTA, leafy 

 for fully half its length : lobes of the corolla lance-oblong. Low grounds : com- 

 mon. June- Aug. Stems l-2 high, often bearing oblong or moniliform 

 bulblets in the axils. 



3. L. quadrifolia, L. Somewhat hairy; stem simple (l-2 high); 

 leaves whorled in fours or fives (rarely in threes or sixes) ovate-lanceolate ; flow- 

 ers on long capillary peduncles from the axils of the leaves ; lobes of the corolla 

 ovate-oblong. Moist or sandy soil : common. June. A variety has the 

 leaves varying to opposite and partly alternate, some of the upper reduced to 

 bracts shorter than the peduncles. Near New York, Washington, &c. 



3. STEIRONEMA, Raf. Leaves opposite, not dotted, glabrous, mostly ciliate at 

 the base : flowers nodding on slender peduncles from the axils of the upper leaves : 

 corolla light yellow, not streaked nor dotted; the lobes broadly ovate, pointed, with 

 undulate or denticulate margins, little exceeding the sepals : fllaments nearly equal, 

 scarcely monadelphous, with the rudiments of a sterile set interposed at the base in 

 the form of slender teeth or processes : anthers linear, at length curved: pod 5-10- 

 valved, or bursting irregularly, 10-20-seeded. 



4. L. ciliata, L. Stem erect (2 -3 high); leaves lanceolate-ovate (3' -6' 

 long), tapering to an acute point, rounded or heart-shaped at the base, all on long 

 and fringed petioles ; corolla longer than the calyx. Low ground and thickets : 

 common. July. 



5. L. radicans, Hook. Stem slender, soon reclined, the elongated branches 

 often rooting in the mud ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, mostly rounded at the base, on slen- 



