242 FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 
have a 5-parted, persistent calyx; a more or 
less 2-lipped corolla; four didynamous sta- 
mens, and a 24-celled ovary, becoming in 
fruit a drupe or nutlet. The leaves are often 
covered with transparent glands. 
Family Phrymaceae. Lopseed Family. 
Consists of a single genus and species, Phryma 
leptostachya, a weed-like herb of the eastern 
United States and eastern Asia. Though 
formerly included in the Verbenaceae, it is 
abundantly distinct from other members 
of that group. Fig. 209 well represents 
the peculiar reflexed fruit from which the 
name “lopseed” is derived. The calyx is 
cylindrical and 2-lipped; corolla 2-lipped, 
irregular, stamens 4, didynamous; ovary 
1-celled, becoming in fruit a dry achene en- 
closed by the persistent calyx. The plant | F's. 209. The Lopseed (Phryma 
z . q leptostachya). One-third natural size. 
is common in open woods and and thickets. original. 
CHAPTER XXXI.—OrveErRs PLANTAGINALES AND RUBIALES. 
The order Plantaginales comprises only the following: 
Family Plantaginaceae. Plantain Family. Contains 3 genera and 
over 200 species, of almost world-wide distribution. The plantains are 
herbs of characteristic appearance, the majority stemless, with a tuft of 
basal leaves, the inflorescence being in a close erect spike or head, very 
rarely solitary. The calyx is 4-parted and persistent, corolla dry and 
membranaceous, 4-lobed. Stamens 4. Ovary superior, 1—2-celled, be- 
coming in fruit a small nutlet or a pyxis. The latter is a thin capsule 
splitting when ripe in a circular line around the middle. 
The common rib-grass (Plantago lanceolata) is a troublesome pasture 
weed, as also P. major and P. media. All three of these are European 
species. The seeds of P. major, the greater plantain, are frequently 
used in bird seed mixtures. (See Fig. 210.) 
The large order Rubiales contains the families Rubiaceae, Caprifo- 
liaceae, Adoxaceae, Valerianaceae and Dipsacaceae. These agree in the 
following characters: Stamens as many as the corolla lobes and alter- 
nate with them, or twice as many. The ovary is compound and infer- 
ior, the tube of the calyx being adnate toit. In all the included families 
the leaves are either opposite or verticillate. 
Family Rubiaceae. Madder Family. This very important and 
