MONOPETALOUS EXOGENOUS PLANTS. 423 



MEKTENSIA, Both. 



Calyx 5-parted; corolla funnel-shaped, 5-lobed, naked, 

 or with 5 folds in the throat; stamens partly exserted; 

 style filiform ; nutlets somewhat fleshy, not flattened at the 

 |)ase. — Smooth or soft hairy perennial heriSy with entire 

 leaves, and showy purplish-blue floiuers in corymbed or 

 panicled racemes, the upper ones bractless. 



M. ViRGiNiCA, DC. Smooth ; stem erect, simple ; leaves 

 membranaceous, elliptical or obovate-oblong, the lower 

 ones narrowed into a petiole ; racemes corymbose; corolla 

 large, naked and expanding at the throat, slightly lobed, 

 the tube 4 times as long as the calyx, villous at the base 

 ^ithm-, filaments longer than the anthers. (Pulmonaria 

 Virginica, L.) River-banks and along mountain streams. 

 May. Stem l°-2° high; leaves 2-3' or the lowest 4-6' 

 long; corolla 1' long, sometimes white. 



MYOSOTIS, L. Forget-me-not. 



Calyx ^-aleit', corolla salver-form, 5-lobed, convolute in 

 the bud, the tube as long as the calyx, with 5 obtuse ap- 

 pendages in the throat; stamens very short, included; 

 nutlets 4, elliptical, compressed, smooth, with a minute 

 scar at the base. — Low hairy Jierbs, with entire alternate 

 leaves, and small white or hlueflozvers in terminal bractless 

 racemes. 



M. VERNA, Nutt. Hirsute with rigid spreading hairs ; 

 stem erect (4-8' high), branching above; leaves lanceolate, 

 sessile, the lower ones spatulate, obtuse ; calyx longer than 

 the appressed pedicel, hispid, with the hairs near the base 

 hooked, the teeth unequal, acute. — Var. macrosperma is 

 every way larger (1°-1^° high ;) calyx with all the hairs 

 hooked, the lower teeth twice as long as the upper ones. 

 Dry places. March and April. Annual. Corolla white or 

 pale blue. 



