PRIMULACEjE. (primrose family.) 315 



5. LYSIMACHIA, Tourn. Loosestrife. 



Calyx 5- (rarely C-7-) parted. Corolla wheel-shaped, 5- (or 6-7-) parted, 

 or even of as many separate petals. Stamens as many. Pod globose, 5-10- 

 valved, few - many-seeded. — Leafy-stemmed perennials, with mostly yellow 

 flowers, either axillary or in a terminal raceme. (Named in honor of King 

 Lysimachus, or from XuVis, a release from, pa^n, strife.) 



§ 1. NAOIBURGIA, Mumeh. Leaves opposite, sessile, minutely glandular-dotted : 

 parts of the flower not rarely 6, sometimes 7 ; the narrow petals almpst or quite 

 distinct, and with an interposed small tooth, sprinkled with purplish dots: Ji laments 

 slender, distinct, equal : anthers short : pod few-seeded. 



1. L. thyrsifl6ra, L. (Tufted Loosestrife.) Smooth; stem simple 

 (l°-2° high) ; lower leaves reduced to scales, the rest lanceolate, the axils of 

 one or two pairs of the middle ones bearing a short-peduncled head-like or spike- 

 like cluster of light yellow small flowers ; divisions of the corolla lance-linear. 

 (Naumburgia thvrsiflora, Reichenb., and Ed. 2.) — Cold wet swamps, from Penn. 

 northward. June, July. (Eu.) 



§ 2. TPiIDYNIA, Raf. Leaves opposite or ivhorled, sessile, dotted : calyx and 

 golden-yellow corolla streaked with dark lines : f laments mostly unequal, plainly 

 monadeiphous at the base, with no intefi'posed sterile ones : anthers short : pod 5- 

 valved, ripening only 2-5 seeds. 



2. L. Stricta, Ait. Smooth, at length branched, very leafy; leaves opposite 

 or rarely alternate, lanceolate, acute at each end; flowers on slender pedicels in 

 a long raceme (5'- 12'), which is leafy at the base; or, in var. prodtjcta, leafy 

 for fully half its length : lobes of the corolla lance-oblong. — Low grounds : com- 

 mon. June -Aug. — Stems l°-2° high, often bearing oblong or moniliform 

 bulblets in the axils. 



3. L. quadrifdlia, L. Somewhat hairy; stem simple (l°-2° high); 

 leaves whorled in fours or fives (rarely in threes or sixes) ovate-lanceolate ; flow- 

 ers on long capillary peduncles from the axils of the leaves; lobes of the corolla 

 ovate-oblong. — Moist or sandy soil : common. June. — A variety has the 

 leaves varying to opposite and partly alternate, some of the upper reduced to 

 bracts shorter than the peduncles. Near New York, Washington, &c. 



§ 3. STEIRONEMA, Raf. Leaves opposite, not dotted, glabrous, mostly r.iliate at 

 the base: flowers nodding on slender peduncles from the axils of the upper leaves: 

 cow/In light yiilow, not streaked nor dotted; the lobes broadly ovate, pointed, with 

 undulate or denticulate margins, little exceeding the sepals : filaments nearly equal, 

 scarcely monadel plious, with the rudiments of a sterile set interposed at the base in 

 the form of slender teeth or processes : anthers linear, at length curved: pod 5-10- 

 valved, or bursting irregularly, 10-20-seeded. 



4. L. ciliata, L. Stem erect (2°-3° high); leaves lanceolate-ovate (3'-6' 

 long), tapering to an acute point, rounded or heart-shaped at the base, all on long 

 and fringed petioles ; corolla longer than the calyx. — Low ground and thickets : 

 common. July. 



5. L. radlcans, Hook. Stem slender, soon reclined, the elongated branches 

 often rooting in the mud ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, mostly rounded at the bast, on skn- 



