PRIMULACE^. (primrose FAMILY.) 315 



5. LYSIMACHIA, Toum. Loosesteipe. 



Calyx 5- (rarely 6-7-) parted. Corolla wheel-shaped, 5- (or 6-7-) parted, 

 or even of as many separate petals. Stamens as many. Pod globose, 5-10- 

 valved, few - many-seeded. — Leafy-stemmed perennials, with mostly yellow 

 flowers, either axillary or in a, terminal raceme. (Named in honor of King 

 Lysimachits, or from Xvtris, a release from, ftaxT > strife. ) 



§ 1. NAUMBURGIA, Moench. Leaves opposite, sessile, minutely glandular-dotted : 

 parts of the flower not rarely 6, sometimes 7 ; the narrow petals almost or quite 

 distinct, and with an interposed small tooth, sprinkled with purplish dots : Jilaments 

 slender, distinct, equal : anthers short : pod few-seeded. 



1. L. thyrsifl6ra, L. (Tufted Loosestkife.) Smooth; stem simple 

 (l°-2° high) ; lower leaves reduced to scales, the rest lanceolate, the axils of 

 one or two pairs of the middle ones hearing a short-peduncled head-like or spike- 

 like cluster of light yellow small flowers ; divisions of the corolla lance-linear. 

 (Naumburgia thyrsiflora, Reichenb., and Ed. 2.) — Cold wet swamps, from Penn. 

 northward. June, July. (Eu.) 



§ 2. TKIDYNIA, Raf. Leaves opposite or whorled, sessile, dotted : calyx and 

 golden-yellow corolla streaked with dark lines : Jilaments mostly unequal, plainly 

 monadelphous at the base, with no interposed sterile ones : anthers short : pod 5- 

 valved, ripening only 2 - .5 seeds. 



2. L. stricta, Ait. Smooth, at length branched, very leafy; leaves opposite 

 or rarely alternate, lanceolate, acute at each end ; flowers on slender pedicels in 

 a long raceme (,5'- 12'), which is leafy at the base; or, in var. peodtjcta, leafy 

 for fully half its length : lobes of the corolla lance-oblong. — Low grounds : com- 

 mon. June -Aug. — Stems l°-2° high, often bearing oblong or moniliform 

 bulblets in the axils. 



3. L. quadrifdlia, L. Somewhat hairy; stem simple (l°-2° high); 

 leaves whorled in fours or fives (rarely in threes or sixes) ovate-lanceolate ; flow- 

 ers on long capillary peduncles from the axils of the leaves ; lobes of the corolla 

 ovate-oblong. — Moist or sandy soil : common. June. — A variety has the 

 leaves varying to opposite and partly alternate, some of the upper reduced to 

 bracts shorter than the peduncles. Near New York, Washington, &c. 



§ 3. STEIRONilMA, Raf. Leaves opposite, not doited, glabrous, mostly ciliate at 

 the base : flowers nodding on slender peduncles from the axils of the upper leaves : 

 corolla light yellow, not streaked nor dotted ; the lobes broadly ovate,'-pointed, with 

 undulate or denticulate margins, little exceeding the sepals : filaments nearly equal, 

 scarcely monadelphous, with the rudiments of a sterile set interposed at the base in 

 the form of slender teeth or processes : anthers linear, at length curved: pod 5-10- 

 valved, or bursting irregularly, \0-20-seeded. 



4. L. ciliita, L. Stem erect (2°-3° high); leaves lanceolate-ovate (3'-6' 

 long), tapering to an acute point, rounded or heart-shaped at the base, all on long 

 and fringed petioles ; corolla longer than the calyx. — Low ground and thickets : 

 common. July. 



5. L. radlcans. Hook. Stem slender, soon reclined, the elongated br.inchos 

 often rooting in the mud ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, mostly rounded at the base, on slen- 



