642 DIAPENSIACEAE (DIAPENSIA FAMILY) 



DIAPENSIACEAE (DIAPENSIA FAMILY) 



Low perennial herbs or suffruticulose tufted plants, glabrous or nearly so, 

 with simple leaves, no stipules, regular 5-merous flowers (except the ^-celled 

 ovary}, stamens adnate to the corolla and sometimes monadelphous (those oppo- 

 site its lobes when present reduced to staminodia} ; pollen simple ; loculicidal 

 capsule and seeds of Ericaceae. Flowers solitary or racemose. Style 1, with 

 3-lobed stigma. Distinguished from the Ericaceae chiefly by the insertion of 

 the stamens upon the corolla. 



Tribe I. DIAPENSiEAE. Dwarf woody evergreens, with small entire crowded coriaceous leaves. 

 Starninodia none; filaments adnate to the campanulate corolla up to the sinuses; anthers 2- 

 celled. Calyx conspicuously bracteolate. Flowers solitary. 



1. Diapensia. Flower (or at least fruit) on a scape-like peduncle. Anther-cells blunt, obliquely 



dehiscent. Sepals concave, coriaceous. 



2. Pyxidanthera. Flowers sessile on short leafy branchlets. Anther-cells awn-pointed at base, 



opening transversely. Sepals thin. 



Tribe II. GALACfNEAE. Acaulescent, with creeping rootstocks sending up long-petioled ever- 

 green leaves, and a 1-several-flowered scape. Staminodia present. 



3. Galax. Calyx minutely 2-bracteolate. Stamens monadelphous ; anthers 1-celled. 



1. DIAPENSIA L. 



Corolla bell-shaped, 5-lobed ; lobes rounded. Filaments broad and flat, ad- 

 herent to the corolla up to the sinuses, short ; anthers adnate, of 2 ovoid cells, 

 diverging below. Capsule, inclosed in the calyx, cartilaginous ; cells few-seeded. 



Alpine, growing in very dense convex tufts, the stems covered below by imbri- 

 cated cartilaginous narrowly spatulate mostly opposite leaves, and terminated by 

 a 1-flowered peduncle, 3-bracted under the calyx. Corolla white, 1.5-2 cm. wide. 

 (Said to be an ancient Greek name of the Sanicle, of obscure meaning, strangely 

 applied by Linnaeus to this plant.) 



1. D. Iapp6nica L. Leaves 5-15 mm. long ; peduncle at length 1.5-3 cm. 

 long. Alpine summits, N. E., N. Y., and northw. June, July. (Eurasia.) 



2. PYXIDANTHERA Michx. 



Prostrate and creeping, with narrowly oblanceolate and awl-pointed leaves, 

 mostly alternate on the sterile branches and somewhat hairy near the base. 

 Flowers solitary and sessile, very numerous, white or rose-color. (Name from 

 "irvt-ls, a small box, and anthera, new Latin for anther, the anther opening as if 

 by a lid.) 



1. P. barbulata Michx. (FLOWERING Moss, PYXIE.) Leaves 3-8 mm. long, 



Sandy pine barrens of N. J. to N. C. Apr. , May. 



3. GALAX L. 



Calyx imbricate, persistent. Petals hypogynous, obovate-spatulate, rathei 

 erect, deciduous. Filaments united into a 10-toothed tube, slightly adhering to 

 the base of the petals, the 5 teeth opposite the petals naked, the alternate ones 

 shorter and bearing roundish anthers, which open across the top. Style short. 

 Capsule ovoid, 3-celled ; columella none. Seeds numerous, the cellular loose 

 coat tapering to each end. Evergreen herb, with a thick matted tuft of scaly 

 creeping rootstocks, beset with fibrous red roots, sending up round-heart-shaped 

 crenate-toothed and veiny shining leaves (3-16 cm. wide), and a slender naked 

 scape, 3-8 dm. high, bearing a wand-like spike or raceme of small and minutely 

 bracted white flowers. (Name from yd\a, milk, of no conceivable application 

 to this plant.) 



1. G. aphylla L. Open woods, Va. to Ga. June. 



