

112 LYTHRACEJi:. 



4-clcft. Petals 4, obovate, inserted with the 8 stamens on 

 the summit of the calyx-tube. Anthers 8, long, curved, 

 attached to the filaments behind, naked at base. Style 1 . 

 Stigma 1. Capsule free in the calyx, with 4 many-seeded 

 placentae projecting from the central axis. Seeds coiled 

 like a snail shell, without albumen. — Low perennial herbs, 

 often bristly, with sessile 3 to 5-nerved, and bristle-edged leaves, 

 and showy cymose purplish flowers. 



1. R. Virginica, L. Deer Grass. Meadow Beauty. 



Stem square, with wing-like angles; leaves oval-lanceolate, acute, sessile, ciliat*, 

 serrate, sprinkled with bairs on both sides; calyx hipped. 



Wet meadows and sandy swamps. July, Aug. Stem a foot high, often dichoto- 

 mously branched above. Leaves with 3 (rarely 5 or 7) prominent nerves, 1 to 3 inches 

 long, half as wide. Flowers large, in corymbose cymes. Petals reddish-purple, 

 obovate, hisped beneath, caducous. Anthers long and prominent, crooked, golden 

 yellow above with a purple line beneath. Style long, a little declined. 



2. E. Mariana, L. Maryland Deer Grass. 



Stem nearly round, covered with bristly hairs; leaves lanceolate, or linear-oblong, 

 acute at each end, sparingly hisped on both sides, ciliate-serulate : calyx hisped. 



Wet grounds., July, Aug. Stem 1 to 2 feet high, slender, with opposite branshca. 

 Flowers situated in the forks and terminations of the branches. Petals obovate, 

 hairy on the outer surface, flesh-colored or white dilated with rose-red. Anthers 

 yellow. Style larger than the stamens. 



Order 42. LYTHRACE1E, 



Herbs rarely shrubs, with usually i-sided branches, mostly opposite entire leaves, 

 witlwut stipules, and rarely irregular flowers, axillary or whorled, sometimes in 

 racemes or spikes. Calyx tubular, the limb 4 to 7-lobed, sometimes with as many 

 intermediate teeth. Petals inserted between the teeth of the calyx, sometimes 

 wanting. Stamens as many, or 2 to 4 times as many as the petals, inserted into 

 the tube of the calyx. Style 1 ; stigma capitate, or rarely 2-lobed. Ovary superior, 

 1 to S-celled. Cakule membraneous, covered by the calyx, dehiscent. Sxw>S 

 numerous, small. 



1. DECODON. Gmel. 



Gr. delca, ten, and odous, a tooth, from the ten-toothed calyx. 



Calyx short, broadly bell-shaped, with 5 erect teeth and 

 5 longer and spreading horn-like processes. Petals 5, 

 wedge-lanceolate. Stamens 15, 5 very long, the alternate 

 ones shorter. Styles filiform. Capsule covered with the 

 calyx, globose 3 to 4-celled, many-seeded. — Perennial herbs, 

 with opposite or whorled lanceolate almost sessile leaves, and 

 clustered pcdicelled flowers in their axils. 



1. D. verticellatum, Ell. Swamp Willow Herb. 



Swamps and wet places. Aug. Stems 2 to 6 feet long, sometimes prostrate and 

 footing, i to 6-anglcd, smooth or pubescent. Leaves opposite or in whorls of 3, 3 to 



