210 THE (ENOTHEEA FAMILY. 



longed above the ovaiT', 4-lobed at the top. Petals 4. Stamens 8. Ovary 

 and capsule 4-celled. Style distmct, vrith a capitate or 4-lobed stigma' 

 Seeds numerous, without any tuft of cottony haii's. 



A large American, and chiefly North American genus, from whence 

 several species are cultivated in our flower-gardens. 



1. Common QJnothera. Snothera biennis, Liun. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1534. Evening Primrose.) 



A biennial, 2 or 3 feet high ; the stems almost simple, and more or less 



hairy ; leaves ovate- lanceolate or lanceolate, slightly toothed, hoary or downy. 



Flowers yellow, lai-ge, and fragrant, in a long, terminal spike, often leafy at 



l:he base. Ovary sessile, about 6 to 8 lines long, the tube of the calyx at 



east an inch longer, the petals broad and spreading. Capsule oblong. 



A North American plant, long cultivated in Eivropean flower-gardens, 

 and now naturahzed on river-banks and other sandy places in several parts 

 of western Em'ope. Appears to be fully established in Lancashu-e and 

 some other counties of England. Fl. summer and autumn, opening in the 

 evening. ' 



III. LiVD'WIGIA. LUDWiaiA. 



Marshy or almost aquatic herbs, with opposite leaves, and small flowers 

 solitary in the axils of the upper leaves. Limb of the calyx of 4 short divi- 

 sions. Petals very small, or, in the British species, none. Stamens 4. 

 Ovary and capsule 4-celled. Style distinct, with a capitate stigma. Seeds 

 numerous, without any tuft of hairs. 



The genus consists of a considerable number of species, widely difiused 

 ovep the hotter as well as the temperate regions of the globe, in the new 

 world as in the old. In then- general habit and small flowers they re- 

 semble Peplis, and some other semi-aquatic plants of the Lythrum family, 

 but the inferior ovary and other characters are entirely those of the (Eno- 

 thera femily. 



1. IVIarsli Iiudwigia. Iiudwigia palustris, Ell. 

 {Isnardia, Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2593.) 



A small glabrous annual, 3 to 6 inches high or rarely more ; the lower 

 part of the stem creeping in mud or floating in water, branching and root- 

 ing at almost every node. Leaves ovate and entire, 6 lines to an inch long. 

 Elowers closely sessile, with a small green calyx, no petals, very small 

 stamens, and an exceedingly short style, with a comparatively large capitate 

 stigma. The capsule rapidly enlarges, being, when ripe, about 2 hnes long, 

 obovate, with 4 green angles, and containing numerous minute seeds. 



In wet ditches, bogs, and pools, in central and southern Europe, central 

 Asia, and North America, not crossing the Baltic to the northward. In 

 Britam only known hitherto in three locaUties in Hampsliire and Sussex, 

 and in the Channel Islands. Fl. summer. 



IV. CXRCSA. CIEC^A. 



Herbs, becoming perennial by cree]ping rootstocks from the base of the j 

 erect annual flowering stems, with opposite stalked leaves, and small flowers ; 



