FIGWORT FAMILY 



Stamens and anthers four, white, woolly, in two pairs, inserted on 

 corolla-tube. Sterile filament smaller and shorter than others. 

 O'wo?-)'.— Two-celled; style long, slender, curved; stigma entire. 

 Seeds. — Winged. 



Both the Greek and the English names of this plant emphasize 

 the distinctly reptilian suggestion made by the corolla. The 

 poise of the flower, the keeled upper part, the inflated lip, and 

 the small mouth, all produce a result that, if not strong enough to 

 be a resemblance, is distinctly a suggestion. 



The common northern species, Chelone glabra, has the same 

 turtle-headed corolla, but white and delicately flushed with pink 

 at the lips. It bends over many a running stream and sees itself 

 reflected in the water mirror of many a quiet pond. 



TORENIA 



Torenia Fournieri. 



Torenia, named in honor .of Olaf Toren, a Swedish botanist. 



A low, midsummer-blooming annual, with flowers having the poise 

 and color of tricolor violets. Native to Cochin China. 



Stem. — Six to twelve inches high, square and slightly winged, bushy. 



Leaves. — Opposite, cordate-lanceolate, crenate-serrate, an inch and a 

 half long. 



Flowers. — Violet-blue, funnel-shaped, somewhat two-lipped, in loose, 

 terminal or axillary few-flowered racemes. 



Calyx. — Tubular, angular, five-winged, and five-toothed. 



Corolla. — A funnel-shaped tube expanding into a four-lobed border; 

 the upper erect, broad, notched or cut; the lateral and lower spreading. 



Stamens. — Four in two pairs; one pair meeting in front of upper lobe; 

 the other at the throat. 



Ovary. — Oblong; style long, slender. 



Capsule. — Oblong; seeds numerous, small. 



Although Torenia has been in cultivation over a hundred years, 

 it is by no means as well known as it deserves. A tropical plant 

 and at home a pereimial, it must with us be treated as an annual. 

 It is an August bloomer; the flowers on stiff stems have much of the • 



410 



