PRIMULACE^E. (PRIMROSE FAMILY.) 235 



5. STEIRONEMA, Raf. 



Perennials, glabrous except the ciliate petioles: leaves all opposite, but 

 mostlv in seeming whorls on the flowering branches: flowers yellow. 



1. S. ciliatum, Kaf. Stem erect, 2 to 4 feet high, mostly simple: leaves 

 orat< -lanceolate or oblong-ovate, gradually acuminate, 2 to 5 inches long, and 

 mostly with a rounded or subcordate base, minutely ciliate ; the long petioles hir- 

 sute!// ciliate. — Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. xii. 62. Lysimachia ciliata, L. New 

 Mexico to British Columbia and eastward across the continent. 



2. S. lanceolatum, Gray. Stem erect, 1 to 2 feet high, simple or panicu 

 lately branched, somewhat r,ngled : leaves lanceolate or linear, I to 2 inches long, 

 tapering into a short and margined ciliate petiole or attenuated base ; the radical 

 and sometimes lowest cauline from oblong to orbicular, small : divisions of the 

 corolla conspicuously erose and cuspidate-acuminate. — Proc. Am. Acad. xii. 

 62. Lysimachia lanceolata, Walt. The Dakotas and Nebraska to Louisiana 

 and eastward. 



Var. hybridum, Gray. Cauline leaves mostly petioled, from oblong to 

 broadly linear. — Synopt. PI. ii. 62. The commoner form westward. 



6. GLAUX, Tourn. Sea-Milkwort. 



Flowers dimorphous. A low and leafy fleshy perennial. 



1. G. maritima, L. Glabrous and glaucous or pale, perennial by slender 

 running rootstocks : stems a span or less high, erect or spreading : leaves 

 from oval to oblong-linear, i to ^ inch long, entire, sessile: calyx-lobes oval, 

 purplish or white. — Salt marshes along both sea-coasts; also in subsaliue soil 

 in the interior west of the Mississippi. 



7. CENTUNCULUS, Dill. Chaffweed. 



Very small glabrous annuals, with mainly alternate leaves, and solitary in- 

 conspicuous flowers in their axils. 



1. C. minimus, L. Stems ascending, 2 to 6 inches long: leaves ovate, 

 obovate, or spatulate-oblong, contracted or tapering at base, all but the lowest 

 sessile : calyx-lobes lanceolate-subulate. — From Illinois to Texas and west- 

 ward to Oreeron. 



8. SAMOLXJS, Tourn. Brookweed. Water Pimpernel. 



Low and glabrous herbs; with entire leaves, and small white flowers in 

 simple or panic-led racemes. 



1. S. Valerandi, L., var. Americanus, Gray. Stem erect, slender, 

 leafy, becoming diffusely branched : leaves obovate : racemes often panicled ; 

 bracts none; bractlets on the middle of the slender, spreading pedicels. — 

 Wet places, across the continent. 



