438 OLEACEAE centunculus 



SAMOLUS 



6-12 lines long: flowers scarlet, 2-3 lines broad, solitary, on long filiform 

 pciduncles that ' recurve in fruit : lobes of the corolla lanceolate, acute, 

 minutely denticulate or glandular-ciliate, but little longer than the calyx : 

 seeds minute. California to Oregon and the Atlantic States. Naturalized 

 from Europe and Asia. 



10. CENTUNCULUS Dill. L. Gen. n. 145. 

 Low glabrous annuals with mostly alternate leaves and minute 

 'solitary flowers in the axils of the middle leaves. Calyx 4-5- 

 pairted into linear acute lobes, longer than the corolla, persistent. 

 Corolla small, with subglobose tube and '4 or 5 acute entire teeth. 

 Stamens 4 or 5, inserted on the throat of the corolla, with distinct 

 short filaments and broadly ovate to cordate obtuse anthers. Style 

 filiform: stigma capitate. Seeds minute, numerous. 



G. minimus L. Sp. 116. Stems ascending, 2-6 inches long, simple or 

 Branched : leaves ovate, obovate or spatulate-oblong, tapering at base, 2-3 

 lines long, all but the lowest sessile : flowers 4-5-merous : calyx-lobes lance- 

 olate, acuminate, fully as long as the capsule. In moist places, California 

 and Oregon to Brit. Columbia, Minnesota and Illinois. Europe and S. Am. 



Tribe 2 Samoleae Endl. Gen. 734. Ovary connate at base with 

 the base of the calyx. 



11 SAMOLUS Tourn. L. Gen. n. 222. 

 Low glabrous caulescent herbs with alternate entire leaves and 

 small white flowers in simple or panicled racemes. Flowers 5- 

 merous. Calyx persistent, its tube adnate to the ovary below. 

 Corolla perigynous, nearly campanulate ; the rounded lobes imbri- 

 cated in the bud. Fertile stamens 5, inserted on the tube of the 

 corolla ; with short filaments and cordate anthers ; staminoidea 5, 

 in the sinuses of the corolla, or wanting. Style short or slender : 

 stigma obtuse or capitate. Capsule ovate or globular, 5-valved at 

 the top, many seeded. Seeds minute. 



S. floribundus H. B. K. Nov. Gen, ii, 224. Stems erect or ascending, 

 6-18 inches high, diffusely branched, leafy up to the racemes: leaves ob- 

 ovate to spatulate, 1-3 inches long, tapering to a short petiole: flowers 

 usually numerous, less than a line broad, in loose paniculate racemes: 

 pedicels filiform, spreading, 4-12 lines long, bracteolate near the middle: 

 calyx adherent to the middle of the ovary and capsule, the lobes ovate, 

 half as long as the short-campanulate corolla: sterile filaments in the 

 sinuses reflexed. In wet places, California to Brit. Columbia, Canada, 

 Florida and Texas. 



Order LIX OLEACEAE Lindl: Nat. Syst. 

 Trees or shrubs, rarely almost herbaceous, with colorless bland 

 juice, opposite, rarely alternate, leaves without stipules and per- 

 fect or dioecious regular flowers. Flowers gamopetalous, 2-4- 

 petalous, apetalous or even achlamydeous. Stamens 2, some- 

 times 4, fewer than the parts of the corolla, distinct. Ovary two- 

 celled, with one or two pairs of anatropous ovules in each cell. 

 Style one or none... Fruit a capsule, samara, berry or drupe. 



