MENYANTHES. C. GENTIANACE^E. 455 



single large, terminal, blue flower. Jn. I understand that this interesting plant 

 has been rediscovered on the White Mts. by Mr. Abel Starrs. 



9. FRASfiRA. Walter. 



In honor of John Fraser, an American cultivator of exotics. 



Flowers mostly tetramerous ; petals united at base, oval, spread- 

 ing, deciduous, each with 1 or 2 bearded, orbicular glands in the mid- 

 dle ; style 1 ; stigmas 2, distinct ; capsule compressed, 1 -celled ; seeds 

 few, imbricate, large, elliptic, margined. ^ Showy and tall, with oppo- 

 site or verticillate leaves. 



F. CAROLINENSIS. Walt. (F. Walteri. MX. and 1st edit.') Columbo. 



SI. tall, erect, glabrous, branched above ; Ivs. verticillate, oblong-lanceo- 

 late, acutish, sessile, feather-veined, entire or wavy; panicle compound, pyra- 

 midal, leafy, verticillate ; col. segments acute, shorter than the oblong, obtusish 

 petals; gland solitary, oval-orbicular. A tall and showy plant, in moist woods, 

 Western N. Y. to Car. W. to Ohio ! la. ! Ky., 111. Stem dark purple, 4 7 9f! 

 high, perfectly straight, 1 -2' thick at base. Leaves smooth, subcarnose, 3 12' 

 by 1 3', in whorls of 4 6, rarely opposite. Branches of the panicle, also 

 whorled, spreading-erect. Flowers tetramerous, li' diam. Petals greenish 

 with blue dots and a large purple gland near the base. June, July. Highly 

 valued as a tonic. 



TRIBE 2. MEXYANTHEJE. ^Estivation of the corolla induplicate. Aquatic 



or marsh herbs. Sheaths of the leaves alternate. 



10. LIMNANTHfiMUM. Gmel. 



Gr. \tpvT), a lake, ai/-&of, a flower; from its aquatic habitat. 



Calyx 5-parted ; corolla subcampanulate, with a short tube and 

 spreading, 5-lobed limb, deciduous, segments obtuse ; stamens 5, alter- 

 nating with 5 glands ; capsule 1 -celled, without valves ; placentae 

 fleshy, many-seeded. ^ submersed, generally in stagnant water. Lvs. 

 floating, on long petioles. 



L. LACUNOSA. Gmel. (Villarsia. Ph. V. trachysperma. Mr.) Lake-flower. 

 Floating; Ivs. reniform, subpeltate, scabrous above, spongy and lacunose 

 beneath; fls. umbellate, from the summit of the stem (petiole?) ; cor. smooth; 

 glands from the base of the petals, stipitate ; col. shorter than the capsule; seeds 

 muricate. A curious aquatic, in ponds and lakes, N. Y. ! to Car. The stems 

 are 1, 2 or 3f long, according to the depth of the water, bearing at the top three 

 kinds of organs ; the summit is prolonged into a petiole bearing a leaf about an 

 inch in diameter, resembling that of Nymphaea ; on the upper side is an umbel 

 of small white flowers, blossoming successively at the surface of the water, and 

 beneath, a cluster of short, simple, tuberous radicles, each of which is capable 

 of producing a new plant. July. 



11. MENYANTHES. Tourn. 



Gr. fiTjvri) a month ; avSos ; in allusion to its supposed properties as an emenagogue. 



Calyx 5-parted ; corolla funnel-form, limb spreading. 5-lobed, vil- 

 lous within ; stamens 5 ; style 1 ; stigma bifid ; capsule 1 -celled. 



M. TRIFOLIATA. Buck Bean. 



Lvs. trifoliate. Grows in swamps, margins of ponds, &c., N. Am. N. of 

 latitude 38. This fine plant arises from large, black roots descending deep 

 into the boggy earth. Stem 812' high, round. Leaves on long, round foot- 

 stalks stipuled at base. Leaflets obovate. Peduncle long, naked, terminal, 

 bearing a pyramidal raceme of flesh-colored flowers. Pedicels thick, bracteate 

 at base. Sepals obtuse, about a third as long as the corolla. Petals acute, 

 about as long as the stamens, remarkably and beautifully distinguished by the 

 soft, fringe-like hairs at the base and in the throat of the tube. Bitter herbs, 

 actively medicinal, sometimes substituted for hops. May. 



