CRUCIFEIkE. 157 



Plate 67. 

 SELENIA, Nutt. 



Silicula ovalis, compressissima, vix stipitata, stylo longe 

 subulata j valvis fere planis septo lato (saspe incompleto) 

 parallelis. Semina plurima, plana, alata, funiculis filiformi- 

 bus liberis. Cotyledones plana? accumbentes ; radicula 

 brevi placentas remota. — Flores flavi, in racemis folioso- 

 bracteatis ; foliis pinnatifidis. 



Selenia, Nutt. in Jour. Acad. Philad. 5. p. 132. I. 6. Torr. & Gray, Fl. 

 N. Am. 1. p. 99. End!. Gen. -1^4. 



Calyx nearly equal at the base, colored (yellow); the 

 sepals loose or spreading, oblong-linear. Petals spatulate, 

 spreading, tapering into a claw nearly as long as the calyx. 

 Stamens shorter than the petals : filaments filiform, tooth- 

 less : anthers oblong, emarginate at both ends. Glands 

 10, yellow, of which 8 form an outer series, one before each 

 sepal and petal, and two thicker ones stand one before each 

 of the shorter stamens (opposite the valves of the pod). 

 Ovary oblong, turgid, contracted at the base but scarcely 

 stipitate, two-celled, or only one-celled, the partition being 

 imperfect : style filiform, much longer than the ovary : 

 stigma depressed-capitate, entire. Ovules several (6 to 10) 

 on each placenta, horizontal, on long and filiform free fu- 

 niculi, forming two rows in each cell. 



Silicle broadly oval, much compressed parallel with the 

 very broad partition, slightly margined, abruptly subulate 

 with the long persistent style, contracted into a slightly 

 stipitiform base ; the valves membranaceous, flattened, or 

 when young slightly turgid, minutely veiny, nerveless ; the 

 broad partition very thin, complete or fenestrate, sometimes 

 reduced to a mere border not wider than the filiform or ca- 

 pillary free funiculi ; the areola: irregular and bounded by 



