128 LTTHRACE^. (lOOSESTKIFE FAMILY.) 



1. AMMANNIA, Houston. Ammannia. 



Calyx globular or bell-shaped, 4-angled, 4-toothed, with a little horn-shaped 

 appendage at each sinus. Petals 4 (purplish), small and deciduous, sometimes 

 wanting. Stamens 4, short. Pod globular, 4-celled. — Low and inconspicuous 

 smooth herbs, with opposite naiTow leaves, and small greenish flowers in their 

 axils. (Named after Armnann, a Russian botanist anterior to Linnoeus.) 



1. A. llumiliS) Michx. Leaves lanceolate or linear-oblong, tapering into a 

 slight petiole, or the base somewhat arrow-shai^ed ; flowers solitary or 3 together 

 in the axils of the leaves, sessile ; style very short. ® — Low amd wet places, 

 from Connecticut and Michigan southward. July - Sept. 



2. A. l£ltir6lisi9 L. Leaves linear-lanceolate (2' -3' long), with a broad 

 auricled sessile base ; style mostly slender. (J) — Ohio, Illinois, and southward. 



2. 1,'tTHBlJM, L. Loosestrife. 



Calyx cylindrical, striate, 4 - 7-todthed, with as many little processes in the 

 sinuses. Petals 4-7. Stamens as many as the petals or twice the number, in- 

 serted low down on the calyx, commonly nearly equal. Pod oblong, 2-celled. 

 — Slender herbs, with opposite or scattered mostly sessile leaves, and purple 

 (rarely white) flowers. (Name from XvBpov, blood ; perhaps from the crimson 

 blossoms of some species.) 



# Stamens and petals 5 - 7 : flowers small, sditary and nearly sessile in the axils of 

 the mostly scattered upper leaves : proper calyx-teeth often shorter than the interme- 

 diate processes : plants smooth. 



1. L/. hyssopif6lia, L. Low (6' -10' high), pale; leaves oblong-linear, ob- 

 tuse, longer than the inconspicuous Jlowers ; petals (pale purple) 5-6. ® — 

 Marshes, coast of Massachusetts, &c. (Nat. from Eu. ■?) 



2. li. ald^tlim, Pursh. Tall and wand-like ; branches with margined 

 angles ; leaves varying from oblong-ovate to lanceolate, the upper not longer than the 

 flowers; petals (deep purple) 6. 1). — Michigan, Wisconsin, and southward. 



3. Ii. lineare, L. Stem slender and tall, bushy at the top, te-o of the 

 angles margined ; leaves linear, short, chiefly opposite, obtuse, or the upper acute 

 and scarcely exceeding the flowers ; calyx obscurely striate ; petals (whitish) 6. 

 % — Brackish marshes, N. Jersey and southward. Aug. — Stem 3° -4° high. 



# # Stamens 12-14, twice the number of the petals, half of them sometimes much 



shorter: flowers large, crowded and whorled in an interrupted wand-like spike. 



4. li. Salicaria, L. (Spiked Loosestrife.) Leaves lanceolate, 

 heart-shaped at the base, sometimes whorled in threes. — Wet meadows. Eastern 

 New England, and Orange County, New York : also cultivated. July. — Plant 

 more or less downy, tall ; flowers large, purple. (En.) 



3* NESjEA, Commerson, Juss. Swamp Loosestrife. 



Calyx short, broadly bell-shaped or hemispherical, with 5-7 erect teeth and 

 as many longer and spreading horn-like processes at the sinuses. Petals 5. 

 Stamens 10-14, exserted. Pod globose, 3-5-celled. — Perennial herbs or 

 •lightly shrubby plants, with opposite or whorled leaves, and axillary flowers. 



