MEADOW=BEAUTY FAMILY. Melastotnacese. 



MEADOW-BEAUTY FAMILY. Melastomacece. 



Herbs (in our range) with opposite leaves of 3-7 veins, 

 and perfect, regular flowers having four petals, and as 

 many calyx-lobes ; there are either four or eight promi- 

 nent stamens ; in our species the anthers open by a pore 

 in the apex. The stigma being far in advance of the an- 

 thers, the flower is cross-fertilized, and mostly through 

 the agency of butterflies and bees. The seed are in a 

 four-celled capsule. 



„, ^ A stout-stemmed perennial, sometimes 



Meadow= , , n , , , 



beauty or branched (the stem rather square), with 



Deer=grass. smooth, light green, three-ribbed leaves, 

 RhexiaVirginica sharp-toothed, ovate pointed or narrower. 

 Magenta ^^^^ stemless. The flowers with four 



broad magenta or purple-magenta petals ; 

 the golden anthers large. There are eight stamens 

 slightly varying in length ; the pistil reaching beyond 

 them secures the cross-fertilization of the flower ; the 

 honeybee and Colias jjhilodice (the omnipresent yellow 

 butterfly) are the only visitors I have happened to ob- 

 serve. 10-18 inches high. In sandy marshes, from Me. 

 south, and local west to 111. and Mo. 



A similar species, with square stem and 

 Rhexia aristosa ^■, -,- ■, mi i 



narrow, small, linear leaves. The large 



magenta flowers with rounded petals are furnished with 



a tiny awnlike point. In sandy swamps, and the pine 



barrens of New Jersey, south to S. Car., local. 



A slender, round-stemmed species, rather 

 Rhexia Mariana ^ . - .^, i ^^ , i t 



hairy, and with short-stemmed Imear- 



oblong, toothed leaves, three-ribbed, and acute. The 



flowers are light magenta and similar to those of Rhexia 



Virginica. In sandy swamps, and in the pine barrens of 



New Jersey, south and south w-est to Tex. The name, 



from the Greek prj^.i^, means a break or crevice, alluding 



to the situation of the plant. 



290 



