24 CARYOPHYLLACEiE. 



ture. Flowers small and inconspicuous, sessile in the forks 

 of the stem and in the axils, solitary or ternate. 



ExYMOLOGy. Dedicated to the discoverer of the original species, Peter 

 Lajling, a pupil of Linnaeus, and sent hy him to Spain. 



Geographical Distribution. There are three recognized species of the 

 genus ; two of them natives of the southwestern borders of Europe, while 

 the third belongs to the analogous region of the New World, namely, to 

 Texas and California. 



PLATE 106. LcEFLiNGiA SQUARROSA, Nutt. ; — a Texan specimen. 



1. Diagram of the flower. 



2. A node with a pair of leaves and flower, magnified. 



3. An expanded flower, magnified (pentandrous, apetalous). 



4. A stamen, more magnified ; inside view. 



5. Vertical section of the pistil, magnified, showing the ovules, &c. 



6. Dehiscent capsule, in the calyx, magnified. 



7. A magnified seed. (Micropyle not rostellate.) 



8. Longitudinal section of the same, displaying the embryo applied to the 



outside of the albumen, but little curved. 



