GENUS 19. FIGWORT FAMILY. 197 
2. Ilysanthes attenuata (Muhl.) Small. 
Short-stalked False Pimpernel. 
Fig. 37091. 
Lindernia attenuata Muhl. Cat. 59. 1813. 
Ilysanthes gratioloides curtipedicellata Bush, Bull. 
Torr. Club 21: 494. 18094. 
I. attenuata Small, Bull. Torr. Club 23: 297. 1896. ~ 
Stem erect or ascending, 3-16’ long, the branches 
spreading. Leaves oblong to ovate, or sometimes 
obovate, #’-13’ long, thinnish, obtuse, serrate with 
a few low teeth, 3-5-nerved, narrowed into short 
petioles, or sessile; peduncles shorter than the 
leaves; calyx-segments linear-subulate, as long as 
the capsule, or longer; corolla 2”-6” long; cap- 
sule narrowly ovoid, about 2” long, pointed; seeds 
slightly curved, 14-2’ long, yellowish brown, the 
ends usually rounded. 
In wet places, New Brunswick and Ontario to Wis- 
consin, south to Florida and Arkansas. Ascends to 
2000 ft. in Virginia. Perhaps not specifically dis- 
tinct from the preceding. May—Oct. 
20. MICRANTHEMUM Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 10. pl. 12. 1803. 
Creeping or ascending, branched small leafy annual glabrous herbs, with opposite obovate 
oval or orbicular sessile entire leaves, and minute white or purplish short-peduncled flowers, 
solitary in some of the axils. Calyx 4-5-lobed or 4-5-parted. “Corolla very irregular, the 
tube short, the upper lip shorter than the lower, or wanting, the lower 3-lobed, spreading or 
ascending, the middle lobe the largest. Stamens 2, anterior; filaments short, somewhat 
dilated or appendaged at the base; anthers small, their sacs distinct, parallel, or slightly 
divergent. Style short; stigma 2-lobed. Capsules globose, 2-celled by a membranous parti- 
tion or becoming I-celled. Seeds several or numerous, minute. [Greek, small flower.] 
About 16 species, natives of America. Besides the following, another occurs in the southern 
United States. Type species: Micranthemum orbiculatum Michx. 
1. Micranthemum micranthemoides (Nutt.) Wettst. Nuttall’s Micranthemum. 
Fig. 3792. 
Hemianthus micranthemoides Nutt. Journ. Acad. Phil. 
1: 119. pl. 6. 1817. 
Micranthemum Nuttallii A. Gray, Man. Ed. 5, 331. 1867. 
Micranthemum micranthemoides Wettst. in Engl. & 
Prantl, Nat. Pfl. Fam. 4: Abt. 3b. 77. 1891. 
Somewhat fleshy; stem filiform, creeping, the 
branches ascending, 3’-23’ high. Leaves obovate to 
oval, obtuse, 1-23” long; flowers about 4’ long, 
borne on peduncles of about the same length; calyx 
campanulate in flower, obovoid in fruit, 4-lobed, 
usually split along one side; peduncles recurved in 
fruit; upper lip of the corolla nearly obsolete; mid- 
dle lobe of the lower lip longer than the lateral ones; 
appendages at the bases of the stamens nearly as 
long as the filaments; capsule obovoid-globose, 4” in 
diameter, as long as the calyx. 
In tidal mud, New Jersey to Florida. Aug.—Oct. 
This species is the type of the genus Hemianthus Nutt., 
which has been regarded as distinct from Micranthe- 
mum by other authors, a view which may be maintained. 
21. LIMOSELLA L. Sp. Pl. 631. 1753. 
Low glabrous succulent floating or creeping, tufted annual herbs (or perennial by stolons?), 
with filiform stems rooting at their nodes, basal slender-petioled entire leaves, and filiform 
I-flowered scape-like peduncles, the flowers small, white, pink, or purple. Calyx campanu- 
late, 5-lobed. Corolla nearly regular, open-campanulate, the tube short, the limb 5-cleft. 
Stamens 4, inserted on the corolla-tube, scarcely exserted; filaments short; anther-sacs con- 
fluent. Style short; stigma capitate. Ovary 2-celled at the base, 1-celled above. Capsule 
globose or oblong, becoming 1-celled, many-seeded. {[Greek, mud seated.] 
About 6 species, of wide geographic distribution. Type species: Limosella aquatica L. 
