180 RUBIACE^E. (MADDER FAMILY.) 



Stamens 5, exserted. Style filiform, thickened above. Stigma obtuse or 2-lobed. 

 Capsule coriaceous, ovoid, 2-celled, opening loculicidally at the apex, and septi- 

 cidally nearly to the base, many-seeded. Seeds circular, imbricated, winged. 

 Trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite. Stipules solitary. Flowers white or 

 reddish. 



1. E. Caribseum, R. & S. Smooth; branches slender; leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate ; peduncles axillary, solitary, 1 -flowered ; corolla as long as 

 the leaves. South Florida. Shrub 6 - 12 high. Corolla 2' long, fragrant. 



18. OLDENLANDIA, Plum. BLUETS. 



Flowers tetramerous (except No. 8). Calyx 4-toothed, persistent. Corolla 

 funnel-shaped, salver-shaped, or wheel-shaped, 4-lobed, imbricated in the bud. 

 Stamens 4. Stigma mostly 2-lobed. Capsule roundish or obcordatc, 2-celled, 

 opening loculicidally at the apex, which is often free from the calyx. Seeds few 

 or many, wingless. Chiefly small herbs, with opposite leaves. Stipules united 

 with the petioles, sometimes fringed with bristles. Flowers small, white or pur- 

 plish. 



* Corolla salver-shaped, longer than the calyx, smooth : flowers dimorphous, some of 



them bearing exserted stamens and an included style, while others bear included 

 stamens and an exserted style : peduncles axillary, solitary : capsule broad, free 

 at the apex. 



1. O. COerulea, Gray. Annual or biennial, smooth; stems tufted, fork- 

 ing; leaves lanceolate, those at the base spatulate, clustered; peduncles elon- 

 gated, erect or spreading. (Houstonia coerulea, L. II. patens, Ell.) Moist 

 banks, Florida to Mississippi, and northward. February and March. Stems 

 3' - 6' high. Corolla blue or white, yellow in the throat. 



2. O. serpyllifolia, Gray. Perennial, smooth ; stems filiform, prostrate, 

 branching ; leaves ovate or roundish, abruptly contracted into a long and slen- 

 der petiole ; peduncles elongated, terminal and in the forks of the stem. (Hous- 

 tonia serpyllifolia, Michx.) High mountains of North Carolina. Stems 6'- 

 12' long. Peduncles 1 ' - 2' long. 



3. O. rotundifolia, Gray. Perennial; stems diffuse, creeping; leaves 

 round or oval, fleshy, abruptly contracted into a short petiole ; peduncles mostly 

 shorter than the leaves, recurved in fruit; flowers white. (Houstonia rotundi- 

 folia, Michx.) Sandy soil near the coast, Florida to South Carolina, and west- 

 ward. February and March, and bearing apetalous fruiting flowers through the 

 year. 



* * Corolla funnel-shaped : flowers diueciously dimorphous : capsule free at the apex : 



stem ^-angled : flowers in terminal cymes. 



4. O. purpurea, Gray. Pubescent ; stem branching, erect ; leaves ovate 

 or lanceolate-ovate, sessile, 3-5-ribbed; calyx-lobes longer than the capsule; 

 corolla purple or nearly white, slightly hairy within ; capsule roundish. (Hous- 

 tonia purpurea, L.} Woods, Mississippi to North Carolina, and northward. 

 June and July. Stems 8'- 12' high. Calyx-lobes occasionally 3-4 times the 

 length of the capsule. 



