MELASTOMACE.E. (MELASTOMA FAMILY.) 1 S 1 



awl-shaped, and conspicuous on the base of the 4-siikd somewhat top+lulped pod, 



which is longer than the calyx-lobes. — Swamps, Michigan to Illinois, Ken- 

 tucky, and southward. 



5. L. linearis, Walt. Slender, mostly low ; leaves narrowly linear, those 

 of the short runners ohovate; minute petals usually present ; bractlets minute at 

 the base of the elongated top-shaped 4-sided pod, which is 3" long and much longer 

 than the calyx-lobes. — Bogs, pine barrens of New Jersey and southward. 



6. L. cylindrica, Ell. Much branched ; leaves oblong- or spatulate- 

 lanccolate, much tapering at the base, or even petioled; bractlets very minuU nt 

 tlte base of the cylindrical pod, which is 3" long, and several times exceeds the 

 calyx-lobes. — Mound City, S. Illinois, Dr. Vasey, and southward. 



* * Leaves all opposite: stems creeping or floating. 



7. L. pallistris, Ell. (Water Purslane.) Smooth : leaves ovate or 

 oval, tapering into a slender petiole ; petals none, or small and reddish when the 

 plant grows out of water ; calyx-lobes very short ; pods oblong, 4-sided, not ta- 

 pering at the base, sessile iu the axils (2" long). (Isuardia palustris, L.) — 

 Ditches : common. (Eu.) 



8. L. arcuata, Walt. Smooth, small and creeping ; leaves ohlanceolate, 

 nearly sessile ; flowers solitary, long-peduncled ; petals yellow, exceeding the 

 calyx (3" long) ; pods oblong-club-shaped, somewhat curved (£' long). — 

 Swamps, Eastern Virginia and southward. 



Order 40. MELASTOITIACE^:. (Melastoma Family.) 



Plants with opposite 3 - 1-ribbed leaves, and definite stamens, the anthers 

 opening by pores at the apex ; otherwise much as in the Evening-Primrose 

 Family. — All tropical, except the genus 



1. RHEXIA, L. Deer-Grass. Meadow-Beaut r. 



Calyx-tube urn-shaped, coherent with the ovary below, and continued above 

 it, persistent, 4-cleft at the apex. Petals 4, convolute in the bud, oblique, in- 

 serted, along with the 8 stamens, on the summit of the calyx-tube. Anthers 

 long, 1-celled, inverted in the bud. Style 1 : stigma 1. Pod invested by the 

 permanent calyx, 4-celled, with 4 many-seeded placenta? projecting from the 

 central axis. Seeds coiled like a snail-shell, without albumen. — Low perennial 

 herbs, often bristly, with sessile 3-5-nerved and bristle-edged leaves, and large 

 showy cymose flowers ; in summer ; the petals falling early. (Name from p^i s, 

 a rupture, applied to this genus for no obvious reason.) 



* Anthers linear, curved, with a minute spur on the back at the attachment of the 

 Ji 'lament above its base : flowers cymose, peduncled. 



1. R. Virginica, L. Stem square, with wing-like angles; leaves oral- 

 lanceolate, acute ; petals bright purple. — Sandy swamps, E. Massachusetts to 

 Penn., Wisconsin, Illinois, and southward. 



2. R. Mariana, L. Stems cylindrical ; leaves linear-oblong, narrowed below ; 

 petals paler. — Sandy swamps, New Jersey, Kentucky, and southward. 



