ACANTHACEAE 



ACANTHUS FAMILY 



WATER WILLOW 



Dianthera americana L. 



The family is chiefly tropical with only a few representatives 

 in our state. The Water Willow is so called because its leaves 

 resemble those of some Willows, but it is totally unrelated to 

 the Salicaceae or Wil- 

 low family. It could 

 almost as appropri- 

 ately be called Water 

 Orchid because of the 

 resemblance its flow- 

 ers have to some 

 Orchids. 



The plant grows in 

 the water of shallow 

 slow-running streams from Quebec to 

 Wisconsin and south to Georgia and 

 Texas. It is a smooth perennial herb 

 with a slender, usually branched stem 

 that grows upright 1-3 feet or more, 

 depending on the depth of the water. 

 The opposite leaves vary considerably 

 in size, but only slightly from their 

 linear-lanceolate form. They are gradu- 

 ally acuminate, entire, and are sessile or 

 narrowed into short petioles. 



The flowers are produced from July 

 to September in spikelike clusters at 

 the ends of slender axillary peduncles. 

 The calyx is deeply 5-parted. The purplish corolla is very ir- 

 regular, with a slender tube and a distinctly 2-lipped limb. The 

 upper lip is somewhat concave and notched at the tip, and the 

 lower is 3-clett and rough on the inner surface. The 2 stamens 

 are inserted on the throat of the corolla. There is i pistil. The 

 fruit is a capsule about one-half inch long, exceeding the calyx, 

 its stalk about the length of the compressed body, which con- 

 tains 4 flat seeds. 



The larkspur lifts on high its azure spires, 



And up the arbor's lattices are rolled 

 The quaint nasturtium's many-colored fires ; 



The tall carnation's breast of faded gold 

 Is striped with many a faintly flushing streak, 



The Old-fashiotied Garden — John Russell Hates 



315 



