TETRAKDRIA MONOGYNIA 109 



f Leaves alternate ; petals 4. 



L I. iitednifolia, DC. Stem erect, branched, nearly smooth; 

 loaves lanceolate, subsessile ; flowers solitary, on short peduncles ; cap- 

 sule roundish-obovoid, 4-cornercd, angles winged. Beck, Bot.p. 119. 

 Ludwigia alternifolia. WiUd. Sp. 1. p. 672. Ait. Ktrm. 1. p. 265. 

 Muhl Catal.p. 1-7. Ell. Sk. 1. /;. 217. Bigel. Bast. p. 60. Limit. 

 Envy. p. 104. Eat. Man. p. 211. 



L. maerocarpa. Mx. Am. 1. /;. 89. Pers. Syn. 1. p. 146. Pursh. 

 Am. 1. p. 110. JVfeft. GV/i. Up. 98. -Bar*. PAit 1. p. 75. Torr. /Y. 

 1. /;. 180. Ejusd. Comp, p. 83. Florid. Cestr. p. 20. Icow, Bart. 

 Am. 1. fad. 14. 

 Altkrnate-leaved Isnardia. Vulgo — Bastard Loose-strife. 



Root perennial. Stcm2 to3 feet high, much branched, often purplish, somewhat an - 

 jularby the decurrence of the petioles, slightly pubescent, suflruticosc when old. 

 Leaves alternate, 2 to 3 inches long, and half an inch to an inch wide, acute, nar- 

 rowed at base into a very short petiole, sprinkled with short hairs, and minutely 

 ciliate on the margin. Segments of the Calyx longer than the ovary, ovate, acu- 

 minate, ciliate, becoming purple. Corolla yellow ; petals roundish-obovate, near- 

 ly as long as the calyx-segments, caducous. Style deciduous; stigma large, capi- 

 tate. Capsule large, 4-cornered, with 2 lance-linear bracts at base ; apex some- 

 what hemispherical, opening with a central foramen; angles conspicuously wing- 

 ed, wings ciliate. Peduncle about one fourth of an inch long. 



Hub. Swampy meadows, and margins of rivulets: frequent. Fl. July. Fr. Sept* 



f f Leaves opposite ; petals 0. 



2. I. palvstrir, //. Stem procumbent, creeping, glabrous ; leaves 

 ovate, petiolate ; flowers sessile; capsule ovoid-oblong, somewhat four- 

 cornered. Beck, Bat. p. 120. 



Ludwigia nitida. Mx. Am. 1. p. 87. Pursh, Am. 1. p. 111. 

 L. palustris. Ell. Sk. 1. p. 211. Florul. Cestr. p. 20. 

 Marsh Isnardia. 



Root perennial 1 fibrous. Stem 6 to IS inches long, succulent, purple, prostrate, 

 {sometimes floating,) sending out long roots at the joints, and branching from the 

 axils. Leaves ovate, or somewhat spatulate, acute, smooth and shining, the lar- 

 gest ones about an Inch long and three fourths of an inch wide, narrowed abruptly 

 at base into a tapering flat or winged petiole, half an inch to three-quarters in 

 length, blowers small, sessile and opposite in the axils of the leaves. Segment* 

 of the Calyx shorter than the ovary, ovate, acute. Corolla 0. Capsule oblong, 

 truncate, obtusely 4-cornered, crowned with the persistent calyx. Seeds very nu- 

 merous, small, white. 



Hab. Ditches, and miry places : frequent. Fl. July. Fr. September. 



Obs. There are about a dozen additional species, as the genus is now constitu- 

 ted, in the U. States,— chiefly in the South. 



15. Ovary superior, a. Flowers complete. 



77. PLANTAGO. L. JVutt. Gen. 145. 

 [A name of obscure and uncertain derivation.3 



Cblyx 4-parted (rarely 3-parted). Corolla monopetalous, raarcescent; 

 fitob 4-cleft, reflexed. Stamens long. Capsule ovoid, 2-celled, or-' 

 cimseisaed, or opening horizontally. 



10 



