180 XIX. CISTACE^E. LECHEA. 



2. DION^EA. Ellis. 

 Dionaea is one of the names of Venus. 



Sepals 5, ovate, oblong, spreading ; petals 5, obovate, with pellucid 

 veins ; stamens 10 15 ; style 1 ; stigmas 5, connivent, many-cleft ; 

 capsules indehiscent, breaking irregularly, 1 -celled, many-seeded. 

 ^ glabrous. JLvs. radical, sensitive, closing convulsively when touched. 

 Scape umbellate. 



D. MUSCIPULA. Ell. Venus' Fly-trap. Native of the Southern States. Some- 

 times cultivated in a pot of bog earth placed in a pan of water. Leaves rosu- 

 late, lamina roundish, spinulose on the margins . and upper surface, instantly 

 closing upon insects and other objects which light upon it. (See Part 1. 248.) 

 Scape 6 12' high, with an umbel of 8 10 white flowers. Apr. May. j- 



3. PARNASSIA. Tourn. 



Named for Mount Parnassus, the abode of the Muses, Graces, &c. 



Sepals 5, united at base, persistent; petals 5, persistent, nearly 

 perigynous ; stamens perigynous, in 2 series, the outer indefinite in 

 number, united in 5 -groups, sterile, the inner 5 perfect; capsule 1- 

 celled. 4-valved ; seeds very numerous, with a winged testa. % herbs 

 with radical Ivs. and \-flowered scapes. 



1. P. CAROLINIANA. Grass of Parnassus. 



Sterile filaments in 5 clusters, 3 in each, distinct to near the base, sur- 

 mounted with little spherical heads ; pet. much exceeding the calyx, marked 

 with green veins ; Ivs. radical or sessile on the scape, broad-oval, with no sinus 

 at the base. An exceedingly elegant and interesting plant, growing in wet 

 meadows and borders of streams, U. S. to Can. Root fibrous. Leaves about 

 7-veined, broad-oval or ovate, smooth, leathery, radical ones long-stalked, cau- 

 line ones sessile, clasping, a few inches above the root. Scapes about If high, 

 with a handsome regular flower about V diam. Jl. Aug. 



2. P. PALUSTRIS. 



Lvs. all cordate, the cauline one (if any) sessile ; scales (bundles of sterile 

 stamens) smooth, with numerous slender, pellucid setae. Bogs and lake shores, 

 Mich, to Lab. and W. to the Rocky Mts. Scapes about 6' high, naked or with 

 a single clasping leaf near the base. Flowers white. Sepals oblong-lanceo- 

 late. Petals marked with 3 5 green or purple veins. Each scale is distin- 

 guished by 10 15 whitish hair-like bristles. 



ORDER XIX. CISTACEJE. ROCK ROSES. 



Plants herbaceous or shrubby. Branches often viscid. 

 Lvs. entire, opposite or alternate, usually feather-veined. 

 F/s. white, yellow, or red, very fugacious, in one-sided racemes. 

 Cal. Sepals 5, unequal, the 3 inner with a twisted aestivation. 

 Cor. Petals 5, hypogynous, crumpled in aestivation. 

 Sta. indefinite, hypogynous, distinct. Anth. innate. 



Ova. distinct, or many-celled. Sty. single. Stig. simple. [ceeding from the middle of the valves. 



Fr. capsular, either l-celled with parietal placentas, or imperfectly 3 5-celled, with dissepiments pro- 

 Genera 7, species 1S5, found most abundant in the north of Africa or south of Europe. They possess 

 no interest on account of their properties. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



$ large and showy, or wanting HeHanthetnum. 2 



Petals 5, ? minute. Delicate shrubs Htidsonia. 3 



Petals 3, linear-lanceolate Lechea. 1 



1. LECHEA. 



In memory of John Leche, a Swedish botanist. 



Sepals 5, the 2 outer minute ; petals 3, lanceolate, small ; stamens 

 3 12; stigmas 3, scarcely distinct ; capsule 3-celled, 3-valved ; pla- 

 centae nearly as broad as the valves, roundish, each 1 2-seeded. % 



Suffruticose^ branching plants. Stipules 0. 



