PEIMXrtACEiE. 355 



nulate, deeply 5-lobed. Stameiis 5. Capsule opening in 5 or 10 valves. 

 Occasionally the parts of the flower are in sixes instead of fives. 



A considerable genus, spread over tlie northern hemisphere in Europe, 

 Asia, and America. 



Stems erect. Peduncles many-flowered. 

 Leaves ovate-lanceolate. Flowers in short terminal panicles. Lobes 



of the corolla broad 1. Common L. 



Leaves lanceolate. Flowers in axillary racemes. Lobes of the co- 

 rolla narrow and short 2. Tufted L. 



Stems procumbent or trailing. Peduncles l-flowered, axillary. 



Flowers small, rotate. Calyx-segments very narrow 4. Wood Jj. 



Flowers large, almost campanulate. Calyx-segments broad ... 3. Moneywort L. 



Besides the above, the fringed L. {L. ciliata, Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2922), a 

 North American species, has been gathered apparently wild in Cumberland 

 and near Dumbarton. It is an erect plant, like the common L., but with 

 fewer flowers on longer pedicels, the coroUa more rotate and paler coloured, 

 fringed at the edge, and the stamens free and spreading. 



1. Common laysimachia. Iiysimachia vulgaris, Linn. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 761. Loosestrife.) 



Stem erect, branched, 2 to 3 feet high, and more or less downy. Leaves 

 usually in whorls of 3 or 4, rather large, broadly lanceolate or nearly ovate. 

 Flowers in short, compound racemes or panicles, in the upper axils and at 

 the summit of the branches, forming a terminal, leafy panicle. Segments of 

 the calyx lanceolate and pointed, varying much in breadth, and more or less 

 ciliate on the edges. Corolla yellow, rather campanulate than rotate, deeply 

 divided into 5 broad lobes. Stamens connected at the base into a cup en- 

 closing the ovary. 



On shady banks, and along streams, in Europe and Russian Asia, from 

 the Mediterranean and tlie Caucasus to the Arctic Circle, and reappearing 

 in Australia. Frequent in England and Ireland, but less so in Scotland. 

 Fl. summer, rather late. The spotted L. (L. punctata) is a marked variety 

 of this species, not uncommon in Germany and south-eastern Europe, and 

 occurring, mixed with the common form, in north-western England and 

 south-western Scotland. It has the pedicels usually l-flowered in the axils 

 of the stem-leaves, the sepals rather narrower, and the lobes of the corolla 

 fringed with minute glandular hairs ; but none of these characters are 

 constant. 



2. Tufted Iiysimachia. Itysimachia thyrsiflora, Linn. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 176.) 



Stem erect, simple, 1 to 2 feet high, sometimes slightly downy. Leaves 

 sessile, lanceolate, 2 to 3 inches long. Flowers small and yellow, in dense 

 axillary racemes, more or less pedunculate, but always shorter than the 

 leaves. Sepals and petals narrow, the stamens and styles very prominent, 

 and all the parts of the flower as often in sixes as in fives. 



On wet banks, and along streams, in central and northern Europe, and 

 northern Asia and America, extending to the Arctic Circle. Very local in 

 Britain, and chiefly in northern England and central Scotland. Fl. 

 summer. 



3. Moneywort Iiysimachia. Iiysimachia nummularia, Linn. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 528.) 

 Stems prostrate, trailing to the length of 1 or 2 feet, often rooting at the 



