62 ELATINE^. 



broadly spatulate, 13 in. long: sepals round-reniform, conspicuously 

 nerved and scariously margined, 2 4 lines broad, exceeding the 4 oblong 

 or round-ovate petals: stigmas broad; nearly sessile: capsule oblong, 3 

 lines long, 12 20-seeded. Lake Co. and Sonoma. 



ORDER XX. E L A T I N E XE . 



Low annuals with opposite leaves, membranous stipules, and axillary 

 regular symmetrical 2 5-merous flowers. Sepals, petals and stamens all 

 distinct, hypogynous. Styles distinct; stigmas capitate; ovary 25- 

 celled, becoming a 2 5-celled capsule with central placenta and a 

 septicidal or septif ragal dehiscence. Seeds straight or curved. 



1. ALSIXASTRUM, Tourn. (WATER-WORT). Glabrous dwarf and 

 rather succulent plants of wet places, sometimes aquatic and floating. 

 Flowers axillary. Sepals 2 4, nerveless, obtuse, persistent. Petals 

 2 4. Stamens as many or twice as many as the petals. Styles, or 

 sessile stigmas, 2 4. Pod thin, globose, 2 4-celled, several- or many- 

 seeded. Seeds cylindrical, straight or curved, striate-pitted. 



1. A. brachyspermum (A. Gray). Commonly terrestrial: leaves 

 oblong or oval, attenuate at base, sometimes lanceolate, % in. long or 

 less: fl. sessile, mostly dimerous; stamens 2 or 3: seed oval, nearly 

 straight, }^ line long, coarsely pitted in 6 or 7 lines of 10 12 pits. 



2. BEROIA, Linn. Coarser plants, not succulent. Flowers pedi- 

 cellate, often fascicled, 5-merous: Sepals with strong midrib, acute. 

 Capsule crustaceous, more or less of the partitions remaining with the 

 axis. 



1. B. Texana (T. &G.), Seubert. Diffusely branched, the branches a 

 foot long more or less; herbage glandular-pubescent: leaves oblanceo- 

 late, acute, serrulate, ^ \% in. long, narrowed to a short petiole; fl. 

 fascicled, pedicellate; sepals carinate, 1J lines long, exceeding the 

 petals and stamens: capsule globose: seeds smooth and shining. Moist 

 places along rivers and ditches. 



ORDER XXI. HYPERICE>. 

 A small family, here represented by species of the genus 



HYPERICUM, Diosc. (ST. JOHN'S-WORT). Glabrous, the bright green 

 herbage, punctate with pellucid or dark-colored dots. Leaves opposite, 

 simple, entire exstipulate. Inflorescence cymose; flowers yellow. , Sepals 

 5, imbricate in bud. Petals 5, convolute in bud, rotate in expansion. 

 Stamens GO , usually connate at base or into 3 8 clusters. Styles 2 5, 

 nearly or quite distinct; ovary 1-celled with 3 parietal placentae; or 3- 

 celled by union of the placentae with the axis. Seeds many, minute. 



