236 MONOCOTYLODENOUS. 



Gents I HYDROCHARIS. 



Flowers ravonoecious. Sepals 3, oval, membranaceous. Pe. 

 tals 3, narrower tlian the sepals. Sterile florets usually with 

 2 filaments, united ai the ba e, with a 2-leaved spathe. Fer- 

 tile Covets with a 2'-leaved spathe. Styles 6, 2'C\ei\. Capsule 

 5-celIed, many seeded. 



1 H Spoxgiosa. Leaves floating, orbicular, cordate, with purple veins be- 

 neath, with intiated vessels near the summit of the stem. Flowers axillary. 

 Style 6, deeply 2-cleft. SUgma simple, spotted. Seed numerous, striate. 

 White, tinged with purple. % Jul}' — Sept. Stagnant waters. 



Gentjs II VALISNERIA. 



Flowers dioecious. Sterile florets. Spathe 2-4-parted. 

 Spadix covered with minute flowers. Sepals 3. Stamens 2. 

 Fertile flav.ers. Scape spiral, very long. Spathe 2 cleft. 

 Sepals 3, elongated. Pet ds 3, smaller than the sepals. Stig- 

 mas 3, sessile. Capsule cylindrical, 1 -celled, many seeded, 

 3-toothed. 



1 V Spiralis. A floating plant. Leaves linear, obtuse, 3-nerved, min- 

 utely serrulate. Scapes axillary ; those bearing the sterile flowers very short, 

 the fertile ones long and spiral, raising the flowers to the smfaceof the water 

 when ready to expand. 



White. % August — September. Still water. 



Order XCVIII. COMiMELINE^. 



Sepals 3, distinct. Petals 3, sometimes united at the base. 

 Stamejis 6, or sometimes fewer, hypogynous, a part of them 

 deformed, or abortive. Ovary 3-celled, with few ovules in a 

 cell. Style i. Stigma 1. Cap^jJe 2-3-celled, with as many 

 valves. Seed anatropous, inserted by their whole side, on 

 tiie inner angle of the cell. Herbaceous plants. 



Genus I COMMELINA. 



Sepals 3. Petals 3. Stamens 6, usually 3 of them sterile 

 and furnished with cruciform glands. Capsule 3-celled, 3- 

 valved. 



1 G Communis. S'/effi prostrate, creeping, glabrous, much branched,] mint- 

 ed- Leaves alternate, ovate-lanceolate, with carLilaginous margins, sheath- 

 ing, wi'h the sheath ciliatc. Flowers on peduncles opposite the leaves. 

 Bracts ciiiate. Sc-pils unequal, the lateral ones large, obtuse. Petals une- 

 qual, the lateral ones, rounded, spatulate, the others reniform. Style blue. 

 Seed 2 in a cell. 



Light blue. €? June— Nov. Wet grounds. ^:jj,^ 



2 C Erecta. S!e/n procumbent, and erect, branching near the base, 

 slightly pubescent. Leaves oyate-lanceolate, slightly scabrous on the upper 

 surface, sheathing; sheath ciiiate. Bracts cordate, enclosing the flower be- 



