I^rostra. LYTHRACE^. 213 



1. DROSERA, Linn. Sundew. 

 Calyx 5-parted, imbricated in the bud,, persistent. Petals 5, mostly convolute in 

 the bud, withering-persistent. Stamens 5. Styles mostly 3, and each 2-parted, so 

 as to appear as 6 filiform or somewhat clavate ones, stigmatose down the inner side. 

 Capsule oblong, 1-celled with 3 parietal placentae, 3-valved from the top, a placenta 

 on the middle of each valve. Seeds very numerous and small, anatropous, with a 

 smaU embryo at the base or in the axis of the fleshy albumen. — Low perennials or 

 biennials, of brownish or reddish rather than green hue ; the herbage beset with 

 bristle-stalked glands which secrete a drop of clear and glairy liquid ; stipules a vU- 

 lous fringe at the base of the petiole ; leaves inrolled from the apex or the blade 

 inflexed in the bud, in ours all crowded in a rosulate tuft at the base of a naked 

 scape, which bears a unilateral scorpioid (apparent) raceme or spike; but the flowers 

 are not in the axils of the bracts. Flowers generally (in ours) white, each one open- 

 ing in the morning for a single day. 



Of the 100 species or thereabout, only six or seven are North American, and half of these are 

 also European two of them occurring rarely in California. The greater number are S. Australian 

 All at least of the common species are insectivorous. For an account of their remarkable habits 

 and structure see Darwin, Insectivorous Plants, 1875. 



_ 1. D. rotundifolia, Linn. Leaves spreading ; the blade rounded, 2 to 6 lines 

 in diameter, abruptly narrowed into the slender hairy or naked petiole : scape 3 to 

 6 inches high, few-flowered : petals oblong, 2 lines long, a little exceeding the 

 oblong sepals : styles very short : capsule included in the calyx : seeds linear,°with 

 a loose coat. 



In cold swamps in the Sierra Nevada (Braver, Bolander, Lemmon) ; ]\Iendocino Co.(Bolandrr) ■ 

 and northward to the Arctic circle. On the Atlantic side of the continent it ranges southward to 

 J^lorida; it is also found in Europe and Asia. 



2. D. Anglica, Hudson. Leaves ascending, cuneate-oblong, attenuate into the 

 slender naked petiole : scape 3 to 6 inches high, sometimes forked at the tup, few- 

 flowered : petals Imear-oblanceolate, 3 or 4 lines long, nearlv twice longer than the 

 oblong sepals : capsule exceeding the calyx : seeds linear, with a loose coat. 



Sierra County, Lemmon. Common in Eun,,,,^ and Sil,..,!;,, Init rarelv .ollectc.l in North 

 America, being reported only from the North^.st ( '..ast (.l/o,:/, s), l^.ritish America (IlicJMrdson), 

 and Newfoundland. The more fre,pient B. intrm,,,!!,^, llavn.. (tl,,. D. loiujifolia of authors and at 

 least in part ot Lmuteus), is distinguished by the close rough seed-coat, rather smaller liowei^, &c. 



Order XXXVIL LYTHRACE^. 



Herbs (or in warm countries sometimes shrubs or trees), with simple and entire 

 leaves, calyx tubular or campanulate and free from the ovary and capsule but en- 

 closing it, the petals (often wanting) and definite stamens borne in its throat, a 

 single style, numerous small anatropous seeds on a central placenta, and no albumen. 

 Capsule generally becoming one-celled by the vanishing of thin partitions. Xo 

 stipules, and no translucent dots in the leaves. Distinguished from the two follow- 

 ing orders by the free ovary, from the first of them also by the numerous seeds. 



An order of little consequence and feeble representation in temiinatc r<i;l,uis, especially in N. 

 America, the plants being mostly inert weeds. Several Mexic^nu ami s. Aim i i, ,iii sjietaes' of C;/- 

 phea are cultivated for ornament"; also the beautiful Crape-Myrtle, /.--',- ,x// ,,,/.< Indint, which is 

 planted in the Southern Atlantic States, and which would i'lourish in a large part of California. 

 Punka granatum, the Pomegranate, has recently been relerred to this order, "instead ot Mi/rlaceu; 

 but its characters do not accord wdth either. 



