PRIMULACE^. (PRIMROSE FAMILY.) 23 "i 



5. STEIRONEMA, Kaf. 



Perennials, glabrous except the ciliate petiolos: le.ivps all (»pposite, but 

 mostly in seeming whorls on the Howeriug brandies : Howers yellow. 



1. S. ciliatum, Haf. Stem erect, 2 to 4 feet high, mostly simple: leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate or oblong-ocate, gradnally acunjinate, 2 /o 5 inches long, and 

 mostlji with a rounded or subcordate base, minutely ciliate; the lun// pctiolfs hir- 

 siitelij ciliate. — Gray. Proc. Am. Acad. xii. 62. Lysimarhia viliatn, L. New 

 Mexico to British Columbia and eastward across the continent. 



2. S. lanceolatum, Gray. Stem erect, 1 to 2 feet high, simple or panicu 

 lately branched, somewhat r.ngled : leaves lanceolate or linear, 1 ti> 2 Inrhvs lunij, 

 tapering into a short and vianjimd ciliate petiole or (ittennatcd basr ; the radical 

 and sometimes lowest cauliue from oblong to orbicular, small : divisions it{ tlie 

 corolla conspicuously erose and cuspidate-acuminate. — I'roc. Am. Acjul. xii. 

 62. Lijsimachia lanceolata, Walt. The Uakotjis and Nebraska tu Louisiana 

 and eastward. 



Yar. hybridum, Gray. Cauline leaves mostly i)etioled, from oblong to 

 broadly linear. — Synopt. Fl. ii. 62. The commouer form westward. 



6. GLAUX, Tourn. Sea-Milkwort. 



Flowers dimorphous. A low and leafy fleshy perennial. 



I. G. maritima, L. Glabrous and glaucous or pale, perennial by slender 

 running rootstocks : stems a span or less high, erect or spreading : leaves 

 from oval to oblong-linear, i to ^ inch long, entire, sessile: calyx-lobes oval, 

 purplish or white. — Salt marshes along both sea-coasts; also iu subsaline soil 

 in the interior west of the Mississippi. 



7. CENTUNCULUS, Dill. Chaffweed. 



Very small glabrous annuals, w^ith mainly alternate leaves, and solitary in- 

 conspicuous flowers in their axils. 



1. C. minimus, L. Stems ascending, 2 to 6 inches long: leaves ovate, 

 obovate, or spatulate-oblong, contracted or taperiug at base, all but the lowest 

 sessile : calyx-lobes lanceolate-subulate. — From Illinois to Texas and west- 

 ward to Oregon. 



8. SAMOLUS, Tourn. Brookweed. Watiu rniiiRNEL. 



Low and glabrous herbs; with entire leaves, and small white flowers in 

 simple or ]);iniclcd racemes. 



1. S. Valerandi, L., var. Americanus, Gray. Stem erect, slender, 

 leafy, becoming diffusely branched : leaves obovate : racemes often panided ; 

 bracts none; bractlets on the middle of the slender, spreading pedicels. — 

 Wet places, across the continent. 



