240 ACANTHUS FAMILY. 



§ 1. Twining tropical herbs {or cult as kerbs), with nearly regul'ir 5-lobed coroUay 

 and {/lobular seeds sujiported by a cartilafjinmts ring or shallow cup. 



1. THUNBERGIA. Flowers enclosed when in bud by a pair of large leaf-like 



bmctlets borne below the short cup-shaped calyx. Corolla witli a mostly 

 somewhat cui'ved tube aud an abruptly wide-spreading border of 6 rouudetl 

 equal lobes, convolute iu the bud. Stamens 4, included. Pod globulaf, 

 tipped with along and conspicuous flattened beak, 2-4-seeded. Peduncles 

 axillary, 1-flowered. 



§ 2, Erect or sp-eading : nil the folloviing art herbs, with fiat seeds borne on hook- 

 like processes {retinacula) ; calyx i-5-paj'ted, mostly 2-bracted. 



2. ACANTHUS. Corolla of one 3-lobed lip, the upper lip Wanting. Stamens 4, 



with one-celled ciliate anthers. Leaves pinnatind. Flowers in a spike. 



3. EUELLIA. Corolla funnel-form, with an almost equally :5-lobed spreading 



border, convolute in the bud. Stamens 4, included: cells of the anthers 

 parallel. Pod narrow, contracted into a stalk-like base, above 4- 12-seeded. 



4. DICLIPTERA. Corolla 2-Iipped, the lower lip 3-lobed, the upper 2-cleft; or 



entire ; but the flower as it were reversed so that the 3-lobed lip seems to' be 

 the upper one. Stamens 2, protnided: cells of the anther equal, but one 

 placed below the other. Pod 2 - 4-seeded below the middle. 



5. DIANTHEBA. Corolla 2-lipped, the upper lip erect and notched; the lower 



3-lobed, wrinkled or veiny towixrds the base, spreading. Stamens 2 : cells of 

 the anther one below the othei*, mostly unequal. Pod 'flattened above, con- 

 tracted into a stalk-like base, 4-seeded above the middle. 



1. THUNBE'EGIA. (Named from the Swedish botanist TImnberg.) 

 Showy flowers produced all summer. 



T. alita (so named from its winged petiote) from.Africa, is the one com- 

 monly cultivated (as an annual) in many varieties as to size arid color of flower, 

 buff, orange, "white, &c., usually with blackish-purple eye ; herbage soft-downy 

 or hairy ; leaves between heart-shaped and arrow-shaped, y. 



2. ACANTHUS. (Old Greek and Latin name, from the word for spine or 

 prickle. ) ^ 



A. mollis, one of the classical species, from S. Eu., is occasionally cult., not 

 hardy N. : the broad sinuately and deeply pinnatifid leaves mostly from the root, 

 hardly at all prickly ; flowers on a short scape, dull-colored. 



3. EITELLIA. (jSTamed for the herbalist Ruelle.) Onrs are wild herbs, 

 chiefly southern, with purple or blue showy flowers, mostly iu clusters' 

 produced all summer, y. : ■■ : ' 



§ 1 . Cells of. the anther pointed at base : stigma only one : pod i-seeded. 

 R. Oblongifolia. Pino barrens S..: downy, 6'-12' high from aCTeeping 

 base, with nearly sessile oval leaves barely 1' long, almost tiristle-shaped^'sepals, 

 but oblong bracts, and spotted purple corolla 1' long. 



§ 2. Cdh of the anther blunt : stigmai 2 : pod 8-1 2-seedefl : stems 1 o - 4° high. 



B. Ciiidaa. Dry soil 'W. & S. : clothed with soft white hairs, the oval or 

 oblong leaves nearly sessile, pale blue corolla (about 2' long) with slender tube 

 much longer than the inflated upper part and than the bristle-shaped sepals. 



R. Strepeps. Richer soil, from Penn. W. & S. : smooth qr slightly downy 

 with obov^te or oblong leaves (I'-4' long) narrowed into a petiole, and purple- 

 blue corolla (l'-2' long) with tube hardly longer than the expanded portion or 

 than the linear-lanceolate sepals. i ' 



4. DICLIPTERA. (Greek words for double, shut, from the 2-v.'iIvcd pod.) 

 D. brachi&ta, of low banks S. is nearly smooth, with G-angled stem bear- 

 ing many branches, thin ovate-oblong pointed loaves on slender iietiole and 

 mton-uptcd spike-like clusters of small purple flowers, each with a pair of' con- 

 spicuous flat bracts, y. '^ - . 



