240 ACANTHACEAE, VoL. III. 
or 2 only; anthers mostly 2-celled, the sacs longitudinally dehiscent. Disk annular 
or cup-like. Ovary 2-celled; ovules 2-10 in each cavity, anatropous or amphitro- 
pous; style filiform, simple; stigmas 1 or 2. Capsule dry, 2-celled, loculicidally 
elastically 2-valved. Seeds globose or orbicular, not winged, borne on curved pro- 
jections (retinacula) from the placentae, the testa close, mostly roughened, often 
developing spiral threads and mucilage when wetted. Endosperm in the following 
genera none; cotyledons flat, commonly cordate. 
About 175 genera and 2000 species, natives of temperate and tropical regions of the Old World 
and the New. 
Corolla convolute in the bud, nearly regular; stamens 4. 
Ovules 2 in each cavity ; capsule 2—4-seeded. 1. Dyschoriste. 
Ovules 3-10 in each cavity ; capsule 6—20-seeded. 2. Ruellia. 
Corolla imbricated in the bud, strongly 2-lipped ; stamens 2. 
Lower lip of the corolla 3-cleft; flowers bracted, not involucrate. 3. Dianthera. 
Lower lip of the corolla entire or 3-toothed; flowers involucrate. 4. Diapedium, 
1. DYSCHORISTE Nees, in Wall. Pl. As. Rar. 3: 81. 1832. 
[CaLopHanes Don; Sweet, Brit. Fl. Gard. (II). pl. 181. 1833.] 
Erect or procumbent perennial herbs or shrubs, with entire leaves (smaller ones some- 
tibes fascicled in their axils), and blue or purple, rather large, bracted flowers, axillary, 
solitary or clustered. Calyx deeply 5-cleft, the lobes setaceous. Corolla funnelform, the 
tube slightly curved, enlarged above, or cylindraceous, the limb spreading, 5-lobed, somewhat 
2-lipped, the lobes rounded, sinistrorsely convolute in the bud. Stamens 4, didynamous, 
included, all anther-bearing in our species; anther-sacs mucronate at the base. Ovules 2 in 
each cell of the ovary; summit of the style recurved; stigma simple, or of 2 unequal lobes. 
Capsule oblong, linear, narrowed at the base, 2-4-seeded, in some species coherent. Seeds flat, 
orbicular, attached by their edges to the retinacula. [Greek, referring to the coherent capsule- 
valves. ] 
About 30 species, of wide distribution in warm and tropical regions. Besides the following, 
4 others occur in the southern and southwestern United States. Type species: Dyschoriste 
{ depressa Nees. 
1. Dyschoriste oblongifélia (Michx.) 
Kuntze. Dyschoriste. Fig. 3888. 
Ruellia biflora L. Sp. Pl. 633. 1753? 
R. oblongifolia Michx. Fl. Bor. Am, 2: 23. 1803. 
Calophanes oblongifolia Don; Sweet, Brit. Fl. 
Gard. (II.) pl. r8r. 1833. : 
Dipteracanthus biflorus Nees, Linnaea 16: 2094. 
1842, 
D. abLematiutte Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 486. 1891. 
Rootstocks horizontal, slender; stems slen- 
der, erect, simple, or branched below, pubes- 
cent or puberulent, obtusely 4-angled, 6’-15’ 
high, rather stiff. Leaves ascending or erect, 
oblong or oval, rounded at the apex, somewhat 
narrowed at the base, very short-petioled, or 
sessile, pubescent or glabrate, 8”-15” long; 
flowers commonly solitary in the axils; calyx- 
segments filiform, hirsute, exceeding the ob- 
long, obtuse bractlets; corolla blue, or mottled 
with purple, 8”-12” long, slightly 2-lipped, its 
tube enlarged above; capsule oblong, about 
one-half the length of the calyx; anther-sacs 
mucronate-aristate at the base. 
In sandy pine barrens, Virginia to Florida, 
mainly near the coast. June-Sept. 
2. RUELLIA [Plumier] L. Sp. Pl. 634. 1753. 
Perennial herbs, or shrubs, mostly pubescent, with entire or rarely dentate leaves, and 
large violet blue white or yellow flowers, solitary or clustered in the axils, or cymose in 
terminal panicles, or sometimes cleistogamous and inconspicuous. Calyx 5-cleft, or 5-parted, 
the segments narrow. Corolla funnelform or salverform, the tube usually narrow, slightly 
enlarged above, the limb spreading, 5-lobed, the lobes obtuse, mostly nearly equal, sinistrorsely 
convolute in the bud. Stamens 4, included or exserted; anther-sacs not mucronate at the 
base. Ovules 3-10 in each cavity of the ovary; apex of the style recurved; stigma simple, or 
of 2 unequal lobes. Capsule oblong or club-shaped, compressed or terete, 6-20-seeded. Seeds 
compressed, ovate or orbicular, attached by their edges to the retinacula. [Named for I. 
Ruel or de la Ruelle, 1474-1537, an early French herbalist.] 
