ONAGRACEAE ^EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY) 595 



* Leaves all alternate^ sessile or nearly so. 



- Flowers peduncled in the upper axils, with conspicuous yellow petals (8-16 

 mm. long), equaling the ovate or lanceolate foliaceous lobes of the calyx. 



1. L. alternifblia L. (Skedhox.) Smooth or nearly so, branched, 1 m. 

 high ; roots fascicled, fusiform ; leaves lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, acute or 

 pointed at both ends; capsules cubical, rouuded at base, wing-angled. — Shady- 

 banks, low wet woods, and swamps, e. Mass. to Fla. and Tex.; and in the 

 interior from s. w. Ont. to l^an., and southw. 



Var. linearifMia Britton. Leaves linear; calyx-lobes linear-lanceolate — 

 W. Va. 



2. L. hirtella Raf. Hairy; roots clustered, fusiform-thickened; strms 

 Nearly simple, 3-8 dm. high ; leaves oblong, or the upper lanceolate, blunt at 

 both ends; capsules nearly as in the last, but scarcely wing-angled. — Moist 

 pine barrens, N. J. to Fla. and Tex. 



<*- -t- Flowers small, sessile (solitary or sometimes clustered) in the axils; petals 

 small and greenish or none; leaves mostly lanceolate or linear on the erect 

 stems (3-9 dm. high) and numerous branches; but prostrate or creeping 

 sterile shoots often produced from the base, thickly beset with shorter obovate 

 or spatulate leaves. (Our species glabrous, except no. 3.) 



•w. Capsule about as broad as long. 



3. L. sphaerocdrpa Ell. Minutely pubescent, especially the calyx, or nearly 

 glabrous ; leaves lanceolate or linear, acute, tapering at base, those of the run- 

 ners obovate with a wedge-shaped base, glandular-denticulate ; bractlets minute, 

 obsolete, or none ; capsules globular or depressed (sometimes acute at base), not 

 longer than the calyx-lobes (less than 4 mm. long). — Water or wet swamps, e. 

 Mass. to Fla. and La. — Bark below often spongy-thickened. 



4. L. polycdrpa Short & Peter. Stoutish ; leaves narrowly lanceolate, acute 

 at both ends, those of the runners oblong-spatulate, acute, entire ; bractlets 

 linear-awl-shaped and conspicuous on the base of the 4-sided somewhat top-shaped 

 capside, which is longer than the lanceolate calyx-lobes. — Wet places, e. Mass. 

 to Ct. ; s, w. Ont. and O. to Neb., s. to Tenn. and Kan. 



5. L. alata Ell. Very similar to the preceding but more slender ; calyx-lobes 

 short, broadly deltoid. — Jackson, Mo. (5ws^ according to Tracy); N. C. to 

 Fla and "La." 



++ ++ Capsule decidedly longer than broad. 



6. L. linearis Walt. Slender, mostly low ; leaves narrowly linear, those of 

 the short runners obovate ; minute petals usually present ; bractlets minute, at 

 the base of the elongated top-shaped 4-sided capsule, which is G mm. long and 

 much longer than the calyx-lobes. — Bogs, pine barrens of "N. Y.," N. J., and 

 southw. 



7. L. glandulbsa Walt. Much branched ; leaves oblong- or spatulate-lanceo- 

 late, tapering at the base or even petioled ; bractlets very minute at the base of 

 the cylindrical capsule, which is 6 mm. long, and several times exceeds the calyx- 

 lobes. (L. cylindrica Ell.) — Low shady woods, about ponds, and in swamps, 

 B. 111. to Fla. and Tex. 



* * Leaves all opposite; stems creeping or floating. 



8. L. paliistris (L.) Ell. (Water Purslane.) Smooth; leaves ovate or 

 oval, tapering into a slender petiole ; petals none, or small and reddish when the 

 plant grows out of water ; calyx-lobes very short ; capsules 4-sided, not tapering 

 at base, sessile in the axils, 4 mm. long. (Isnardia L.) — Ditches and wet 

 shores, common. (Ku.) 



9. L. arcuata Walt. Smooth, small and creeping ; leaves oblanceolate, nearly 

 Bessile ; flow^ers solitary, long-peduncled ; petals yelloio, exceeding the calys 

 (6 mm. long); capsules club-shaped, somewhat curved, 8 7nm. long. (Ludwigi 

 antha Small.) --Swamps, Va. to Fla. 



