LYTIIRACEiE. (LOOSESTRIFE FAMILY.) 133 



August Stem l°-li° high. Leaves rarely 1' long. Flowers l'-lj' in 

 diameter. 



6. It. serrillata, Xutt. Low ; stem simple, 4-anglcd, smooth ; leaves 

 smooth above ; calyx glandular-bristly ; cyme leafy, 1 - 6-flowered. — Open flat 

 pine barrens, near the coast, Florida, Georgia, and westward. July and August. 

 — Stem 2' -C high Leaves and flowers smaller than in the preceding. 



•*- *- Flowers yellow. 



7. R. lutea, Walt Stem at length much branched, 4-angled, bristly ; 

 leaves smoothish, bristly serrulate, the lower ones obovate and obtuse, the upper 

 lanceolate and acute ; cymes numerous ; calyx short and smooth ; flowers 

 small. — Pine-barren swamps, Florida to North Carolina, and westward. July 

 and August. — Stem 1° high. Petals more persistent than those of the other 

 species. 



Order 52. LYTHRACELdB. (Loosestrife Family.) 



Chiefly herbs, with opposite or whorled and entire leaves, without stip- 

 ules. Flowers mostly axillary. — Calyx tubular, persistent, 4 - 7-toothed, 

 free from the 2 - 4-celled ovary. Petals as many as the teeth of the calyx 

 and inserted into its throat, deciduous, sometimes wanting. Stamens as 

 many as the petals, or 2 - 4 times as many, inserted below the petals. 

 Anthers short, introrse. Style solitary. Capsule enclosed in the calyx, 

 1 - 4-celled, few or many-seeded. Placenta? central. Seeds anatropous, 

 without albumen. — Sinuses of the calyx often appendaged. Stigma capi- 

 tate, or rarely 2-lobed. 



Synopsis. 



* Calyx regular. 



1. 1IYP0BRYCHIA. Calyx hemispherical. Petals none. Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule 2-celled 



2. AMMANNIA. Calyx campanulate- Stigma capitate. Capsule 4-celled. 



3. LYTHRUM. Calyx cylindrical, striate. Capsule oblong, 2-celled. 



4. XES.EA. Calyx short, even. Capsule globose, 3- 5-celled- Stamens 10. 



* # Calyx gibbous at the ba>e. 



5. CUPUEA. Calyx tubular, 12-ribbed. Stamens mostly 12. Capsule early ruptured. 



1. HYPOBRYCHIA, II A. Curtis. 



Calyx hemispherical or campanulate, 4-lobcd. Petals none. Stamens 2-4. 

 Style very short: stigma 2-lobed. Capsule globose, 2-cel led. — A submerged 

 aquatic herb, with Ion? filiform stems, opposite crowded pellucid linear leaves, 

 and minute sessile axillary flowers. 



1 • H. Nuttallii, Torr. & Gray. — Ponds and still water, "West Florida to 

 North Carolina, and westward. June- Aug. — Stems 1°-2 C long. Leaves 1' 

 long, acute. Flowers not larger than a pin's head. 

 12 



