124 OXALIDACE/E. Oxalis. 



smooth : petioles 1-3 inches long, hairy. Peduncles nearly smooth. Umbel or cyme siinj)lc, 

 2 - 3-flowered ; or 2-foiked, each division with a 2 - 3-flowered cymule. Sepals oblong- 

 lanceolate, rather acute. Petals obovate, twice the length of the calyx. Styles hairy : stigmas 

 capitate. Capsule prismatic, somewhat hairy : cells 7 - 8-seeded. Seeds obovoid, compressed, 

 with 6-8 longitudinal ridges, and strongly wrinkled transversely ; enclosed in a thick rather 

 fleshy epidermis, which splits on the back, and retracting clastically, throws the seed out of 

 the capsule. 



Common in fields, road-sides and cultivated grounds ; flowering from May to September. — 

 I am confident that this plant is usually perennial, or at least lives through two seasons. The 

 specific name is very inappropriate. O. coi-niculala of Pursh and Michaux seems to be only 

 the procumbent state of this species. 



Order XXVII. BALSAMINACEiE. A. Richard. The Balsam Tribe, 



Calyx of 5 deciduous, colored sepals ; the 2 upper (anterior) ones commonly 

 united into one, the lowest (posterior) one spurred or gibbous. Corolla hypo- 

 gynous, 4-petalled ; the petals united by pairs (so that they are, apparently, 

 only 2). Stamens 5, hj^pogynous, more or less connected above. Ovary 5- 

 celled, with the placentae in the axis : stigmas 5, distincl| or more or less united. 

 Capsule 5-celled, somewhat fleshy, bursting elastically by 5 valves, septifragal 

 (rarely drupaceous). Seeds several in each cell, with a straight embryo, and 

 destitute of albumen. Cotyledons large and flattish : radicle short — Succulent, 

 herbaceous (mostly annual) plants, with a watery juice. Leaves simple, with- 

 out stipules (Arn.). 



1. IMPATIENS. Linn. ; Wight ^ Arn.prodr.Jl. Ind. Or. l.p. 135; Endl. gen. 6060. 



BALSAM. LADY'S SLIPPER. 



[ Named in allusion to the sudden bursting of the ripe seed vessels by the slightest touch.] 



Sepals apparently only 4, from the union of the 2 upper ones. Petals 4, apparently only 2, 

 from the union of the lateral ones on each side. Filaments 5, more or less united at the 

 apex : anthers opening longitudinally or transversely. Cells of the ovary formed by mem- 

 branous projections of the placentae which occupy the axis of the ovary, and are connected 



