GERARDIA PURPUREA. 



PURPLE GERARDIA. 



Didynamia Gymnospermia, Linn. Scrophularia, Juss. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Calix half 5-cleft, or 5-toothed. Corolla, sub-campanulate, unequally 5-lobed, seg- 

 ments mostly rounded. Capsule 2-celled, opening at the summit. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



Stem very much branched, leaves opposite, linear ; flowers axillary, opposite, ses- 

 sile. Willd. and Pursh. 



A biennial plant from fifteen to eighteen inches high, often two 

 feet, in rich wet soils. Leaves thick, linear, about an inch or an inch 

 and a quarter long. Flowers large, very handsome purple. Grows 

 along the shores of our rivers and creeks and other water-courses in 

 great abundance, being one of the gayest of their ornaments in the 

 autumn. This plant and the S. tenuifolia nearly resemble each other 



