212 



CLASS VI. HEXANDRIA. 



Order 1. Jloiiogynia. 



A. Flowers complete. 



lf>4. FLOERKEA. Willd. MM. Gen. 337. 

 [Dedicated to a German Botanist, of the name of Floerkc. fide Pqf\ 



Calyx 3-parted, persistent. Petals 3, much shorter than the calyx. 

 Ovary superior, 2 or 3-lobed ; style scarcely longer than the lobes ; 

 .stigma bifid. .Hemes, or utricles, mostly twin, roundish-ohovoid, tu- 

 be re u late. 



Herbaceous, succulent and tender; leaves alternate, pctiolato, pseudo-pinnate \ 

 flowers axillary, solitary, pedunculate. Nat. Ord. 72. Lindl.. Sanguisokbejr ? 



1, F. uliginosa, JkCuhl. Glabrous; stem terete; leaves triJid and 

 quinate-pinnatifid, segments lance-oblo»g, entire. Beck, Bot. p. 19. 

 F, lacustris. Pers. Syn. I. p. 393. 



F. palustris. jVutt. Gen. \.p. 229. Bart. Phil. I. p. 171. 

 Ncctris pinnata. Pursh, Am. I. p. 239. 



Mirt, or Marsh Floerkea. Vitlgo — False Mermaid. 



Plant pale or yellowish green. Root annual, fibrous. Stem 4 to 10 or 12 inches 

 long, flaccid, erect or decumbent, finally procuml>eni, nearly simple, Leaves pin- 

 nately dissected; lower ones often 3-parted, upper ones mostly quinatc-pinnate ; 

 segments half an inch to an inch long, and 1 eighth to 1 fourth of an inch wide, ses- 

 sile, or subsessile, rather acute, with irregularly branching and reticulated nerves, 

 the lateral segments often deeply bifid, sometimes trifid, cuneate at base, and nar- 

 rowed to a short petiole ; common petioles 1 to 3 inches in length. Peduncles axil- 

 lary, recurved or nodding, at first short, finally about an inch long. Calyx deep- 

 ly 3-parted (rarely 4-parted) ; segments erect, lance-ovate, acuminate. Petals 

 white, lance-oblong, very small, alternate with and scarcely half as long as the 

 calyx-segments. Stamens shorter than the petals; the alternate filaments dilated 

 at base, or articulated to a flat tooth-like process. Ovary mostly of 2 (sometimes 

 3) obovoid-oblong lobes. Style inserted between the lobes of the ovary, and about 

 their length ; stigma bifid (trifid, Lindl.). Fruit mostly of 2 subglobose akenes, or 

 utricles (sometimes 1), with a subcoriaceous verrucose or tuberculate coat. 

 Hob. Miry, shaded places ; Brandywine: frequent. PL April-May, FY. May-June 



Obs. Dr. Torrey, in the appendix to Lindley's Introduction to the Natural Sys- 

 tern of Botany, places this, hesitatingly, in the Nat. Ord. 7. Lindl. H vdropeltidb je : 

 But, in Hooker's Botanical Journal, 1834, Mr. Lindley expresses the opinion that 

 ft must take its place among, or near, the Sanguisorbba. It is a tender fugacious 

 plant,--disappearing early in the season. By the last of June, it is difficult to find 

 a vestige of it. No other species has yet been ascertained. 



165. TRADESCANTIA. L. Nutt. Gen. 303. 

 [In honor of two English Botanists, Father and Son, named John Tradescant.1 



Calyx of 3 sepals, persistent Petals 3. Filaments villose ; the 

 hairs jointed, or moniliform. Ovary superior. Capsule 3-celled, 3- 

 valved, few-seeded, 



Htrbaceotis: leaves alternate, simple, usually sessile, and sheathing at base 

 Nat. Ord. 232. Lindl. Cohmelixbm* 



