132 HELASTOMACE^. (MELASTOMA FAMILY.) 



cohering with the ovary below, or with its angles. Petals 4-6, twisted in 

 the bud, inserted with the 4-12 stamens on the throat of the calyx. An- 

 thers adnate, often appendaged, usually opening by terminal pores. Ovary 

 3 - 6-celled. Ovules numerous, attached to the central placentae. Style 

 solitary. Fruit baccate and indehiscent, or capsular and loculicidally de- 

 hiscent. Seeds anatropous, without albumen. 



1. BHEXIA, L. DEER-GRASS. 



Calyx-tube prolonged and narrowed above the ovary, 4-cleft. Petals 4, round- 

 ish, deciduous. Stamens 8. Anthers 1-celled, opening by a terminal pore. 

 Capsule 4-celled, many-seeded. Perennial herbs. Leaves 3 - 5-ribbed. Flow- 

 ers cymose, terminal. 



* Anthers long, linear, curving upward, saccate at the base, and commonly furnished, 

 with a bristle-like appendage at the insertion of the filaments : flowers purple or 

 whitish. 



1. B. Mariana, L. Bristly; stem branched, terete or 6-angled ; leaves 

 lanceolate, acute, short-petioled, bristly serrate ; calyx mostly smooth, cylindri- 

 cal in flower, the neck in fruit as long as the globose capsular portion ; flowers 

 purple. Varies with narrower, often linear leaves, and smaller whitish flowers. 

 (R. lanceolata, Walt.) Swamps, Florida to Mississippi, and northward. July 

 -Sept. Stem l-2 high. Leaves 3-ribbed. Flowers l'~2' wide, hairy 

 externally. 



2. B. "Virginica, L. Bristly ; stem 4-angled, nearly simple ; leaves ovate 

 and ovate-lanceolate, barely acute, sessile, bristly serrate, the lowest rounded ; 

 neck of the bristly fruiting calyx shorter than the capsular portion ; the lobes 

 ovate, acuminate. Swamps, chiefly in the upper districts, Mississippi, and 

 northward. July and August. Stem 6' -12' high. Leaves 3 -5-ribbed. 

 Flowers purple. 



3. B. Stricta, Pursh. Stem tall, smooth, 4-winged, bearded at the joints ; 

 leaves lanceolate and ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 5-ribbed, bristly ser- 

 rate, sessile ; cyme compound ; calyx smooth, urn-shaped, the lobes lanceolate. 

 Margins of ponds in the pine barrens. Florida, Georgia, and westward. July 

 and August. Stem 2 -4 high. Leaves rugose, the lateral ribs obscure. 

 Flowers purple. 



4. B. glabella, Michx. Stem terete, smooth, mostly simple; leaves 

 lanceolate, sessile, entire or slightly serrulate, thick, smooth and glaucous ; calyx 

 smooth or bristly ; flowers large, bright purple. Low pine barrens, Florida to 

 North Carolina, and west to Mississippi. June - August. Eoot spongy. Stem 

 2 -3 high. Leaves sweetish. 



* * Anthers short, oblong, erect, not appendaged : neck of the calyx short. 

 - Flowers purple : leaves small, ovate or roundish, bristly serrulate. 



5. B. ciliosa, Michx. Stem simple, smooth, 4-angled above ; leaves bristly 

 on the upper surface, 3-ribbed ; cyme few-flowered, leafy; calyx smooth. 

 Bogs in the pine barrens, Florida to Mississippi, and northward. July and 



