296 ACANTHACEJE. (ACANTHUS FAMILY.) 



2. P. lanceolata, Michx. Stem upright (1- 3 higli), nearly simple, 

 mostly smooth : leaves partly opposite, oblong-lanceolate, doubly cut-toothed ; spike 

 crowded; calyx 2-lobed, leafy -crested ; upper lip of the (pale yellow) corolla 

 incurved, and bearing a short truncate beak at the apex ; the lower erect, so as 

 nearly to close the throat; pod ovate, scarcely longer than the calyx. (P. pallida, 

 Pursh.) Swamps, Connecticut to Virginia and Wisconsin. Aug., Sept. 



25. MEL.AMPYRU]?!, Tourn. Cow- WHEAT. 



Calyx bell-shaped, 4-cleft ; the taper lobes sharp-pointed. Tube of the corol- 

 la cylindrical, enlarging above ; upper lip arched, compressed, straight in front ; 

 the lower erect-spreading, biconvex, 3-lobed at the apex. Stamens 4, under the 

 upper lip : anthers approximate, oblong, nearly vertical, hairy ; the equal cells 

 minutely pointed at the base. Ovary with 2 ovules in each cell. Pod flat- 

 tened, oblique, 1 - 4-seeded. Erect branching annuals, with opposite leaves, 

 the lower entire, the upper mostly larger and fringed with bristly teeth at the 

 base. Flowers scattered and solitary in the axils of the upper leaves in our 

 species. (Name composed of fieXa? , black, and irvpos, wheat ; from the color 

 of the seeds of field species in Europe, as they appear mixed with grain.) 



1. M. Americanum, Michx. Leaves lanceolate, short-petioled, the 

 lower entire ; the floral ones similar, or abrupt at the base and beset with a few 

 bristly teeth ; calyx-teeth linear-awl-shaped, not half the length of the slender 

 tube of the pale greenish-yellow corolla. (M. pratense, var. Americanum, 

 Benth.) Open woods ; common. June-Sept. Plant 6^-12' high. Corolla- 5" 

 long, more slender than in M. pratense, sometimes tinged with purple. 



261 GEL.SEMIUM, Juss. YELLOW (FALSE) JESSAMINE. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla open-funnel-form, 5-lobed, somewhat oblique ; the 

 lobes almost equal, the posterior outermost in the bud. Stamens 5, with oblong 

 sagittate anthers. Style long and slender. Stigmas 2, each 2-parted ; the di- 

 visions linear. Pod elliptical", flattened contrary to the narrow partition, 2-celled, 

 septicidally 2-valved, the valves keeled : cells each ripening 5 or 6 large flat and 

 winged seeds. Embryo straight in fleshy albumen ; the ovate flat cotyledons 

 much shorter than the slender radicle. A smooth and twining shrubby plant, 

 with opposite and entire ovate or lanceolate shining nearly persistent leaves, 

 on very short petioles, and large and showy very fragrant yellow flowers, 1-5 

 together in the axils. ( Gelsemino, the Italian name of the Jessamine.) 



1. O. scmpervirens, Ait. (G. nitidum, Michx.) Rich moist soil 

 along the coast, Virginia and southward. March. 



ORDER 75. ACANTHACE-3S. (ACANTHUS FAMILY.) 



Chiefly herbs, with opposite simple leaves, didynamous or diandrous stamens, 

 inserted on the tube of the more or less 2-lipped corolla, the lobes of which 

 are convolute in the bud ; fruit a 2-celled, 4 - 1 2-seeded po d ; seeds anatro- 

 pous, without albumen, usually Jlat, supported by hooked projections of the 



