BORRAGINACEJS. (BORAGE FAMILY.) 361 



6. Merteiisia. Nutlets fleshy, fixed by the inner angle. Lobes of the corolla rounded. 



*- + Lobes of the short salver-shaped corolla convolute in the bud. 



7. Myosotis. Nutlets hard and smooth. Flowers all or most of them bractless. 



* * * * Corolla with 5 scales closing the throat. Nutlets prickly, laterally fixed to the central 

 column or the base of the style, often recumbent. 



8. Ecliinospermum. Corolla salver-shaped. Nutlets elect, prickly on the margin. 



9. Cy uoglostfum. Corolla funnel-form. .Nutlets oblique or depressed, prickly all over. 



Tribe II. HELIOTROPES. Ovary not lobed, tipped with the simple style : the fruit 

 separating when ripe into 2 or 4 nutlets. 



10. Heliotropium. Throat of the short salver-shaped corolla open. Nutlets 1-celled. 



11. Heliophy turn. Throat of the corolla contracted. Nutlets 2, each 2-celled, i. e. 4 in 2 



pairs and sometimes a pair of empty false cells. 



1. ECHIUM, Tourn. VIPER'S BUGLOSS. 



Corolla with a cylindraceous or funnel-form tube, and a more or less unequal 

 spreading 5-lobed border ; the lobes rounded, the expanded throat naked. Sta- 

 mens mostly exserted, unequal. Style thread-form. Nutlets roughened or 

 wrinkled, fixed by a flat base. (A name of Dioscorides, from e^is, a viper.) 



1. E. VULGARE, L. (BLUE-WEED.) Hough-bristly biennial; stem erect 

 (2 high), mostly simple; stem-leaves linear-lanceolate, sessile ; flowers showy, 

 in short lateral clusters, disposed in a long and narrow raceme ; corolla reddish- 

 purple changing to brilliant blue (rarely pale). Roadsides and meadows : rather 

 rare northward ; but a troublesome weed in cultivated fields in Virginia. June. 

 (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. LYCOPSIS, L. BUGLOSS. 



Corolla funnel-shaped, with a curved tube and a slightly unequal limb ; the 

 throat closed with 5 convex obtuse bristly scales placed opposite the lobes. Sta- 

 mens and style included. Nutlets rough-wrinkled, erect, fixed by a hollowed- 

 out base. Annuals. (Name from AUKOS, a wolf, and otyi$,face.} 



1. L. ARVENSIS, L. (SMALL BUGLOSS.) Very rough-bristly (lhigh); 

 leaves lanceolate ; flowers in leafy raceme-like clusters ; calyx as long as the tube 

 of the small blue corolla. Dry or sandy fields, New England to Virginia : 

 scarce. (Adv. from Eu.) 



3. STTMPHYTUM, Tourn. COMFREY. 



Corolla oblong-tubular, inflated above, 5-toothed ; the short teeth spreading ; 

 the throat closed with 5 converging linear-awl-shaped scales. Stamens included : 

 anthers elongated. Style thread-form. Nutlets smooth, ovate, erect, fixed by 

 the large hollowed base, which is finely toothed on its margin. Coarse peren- 

 nial herbs, with thickened bitterish mucilaginous roots ; the nodding raceme-like 

 clusters either single or in pairs. (Name from trv/x^eti/, to grow together, proba- 

 bly in allusion to its reputed healing virtues.) 



1. S. OFFICINALE, L. (COMMON COMFRE^.) Hairy, branched, winged 

 above by the decurrent leaves ; the lower leaves ovate-lanceolate, tapering into 

 a petiole, the upper narrower ; corolla yellowish-white, rarely purplish. Moist 

 places ; escaped from gardens. June. (Adv. from Eu.) 



