126 BALSAMINACE^. Impatiens. 



Peduncles 1-2 inches long, usually 2 - 3-flowered. Lower sepal longer than broad ; the 

 spur about twice as long as in I. pallida, marked with numerous reddish-brown spots. Cap- 

 sule shorter and more ventricose than in the preceding species. Seeds 2-5, quadrangular, 

 with prominent tumid angles. 



Wet shady places ; common every where. June - September. 



This and the preceding species possess active medicinal properties ; being emetic, cathartic 

 and diaphoretic (See Wood ^- Bache's U. S. Dispens. 1088). I.fulva gives to the papers in 

 which the dried plant is kept, an orange-colored stain, wliich sometimes strikes through several 

 leaves, and of the exact form of the specimen. I have not observed the other species to 

 produce the same effect. 



Early in the season, and in very shady places, the flowers of this species arc very minute, 

 scarcely colored, and with only a rudimentary spur. They do not expand ; but after im- 

 pregnation, the united calyx and corolla, with the enclosed stamens, are separated from the 

 base of the ovary by the growth of this organ, and remain for a time on its apex like a calyptra. 

 The ovary then attains its usual size, and perfects its seeds. 



Order XXVIII. LIMNANTHACE^E. R. Brown. False-mermaid Tribe. 



Calyx of 3 - 5 persistent sepals, united at the base, valvate in aestivation. Petals 

 3-5, marcescent. Stamens twice as many as the petals, and united with 

 them upon a thin somewhat perigynous disk. Ovaries 3-5, united by their 

 styles, opposite the sepals : stigmas simple. Achenia somewhat fleshy ; the 

 cell filled by the solitary seed, which is destitute of albumen. Embryo with 

 very large and thick cotyledons. Radicle very short, included. — Annual, 

 smooth and tender herbs, somewhat acrid (like Trojxeolum). Leaves alternate, 

 pinnatifidly divided, without stipules. Flowers axillarj', solitary. 



1. FLffiRKEA. Willd. in neue Berol. schrift. 3. p. 148 (1801) ; Lindl. in Hook. jour. 



hot. \. t. I; Endl. gen. 6065. false MEKMAW. 



[ Named in honor of Floerke, a German botanist.] 



Sepals 3 (rarely 4). Petals 3, shorter than the calyx. Stamens 6. Ovaries 2-3, tubercu- 

 latc. Leaves pinnately divided ; the divisions mostly entire. 



