184 CACTACE^E. (CACTUS FAMILY.) 



4. CITPHEA, Jacq. Cuphea. 





Calyx tubular, 12-ribbed, somewhat inflated below, gibbous or spurred at the 

 base on the upper side, 6-toothed at the apex, and usually with as- many little 

 processes in the sinuses. Petals 6, very unequal. Stamens mostly 12, approxi- 

 mate in 2 sets, included, unequal. Ovary with a curved gland at the base next 

 the spur of the calyx, 1 - 2-celled : style slender : stigma 2-lobed. Pod oblong, 

 few-seeded, early ruptured through one side. — Flowers solitary or racemose, 

 stalked. (Name from icvcpos, gibbous, from the shape of the calyx, &c.) 



1. C. viscosissima, Jacq. (Clammy Cuphea.) Annual, very viscid- 

 hairy, branching : leaves ovate-lanceolate ; petals ovate, short-clawed, purple. 

 — Dry fields, from Connecticut to Illinois, and southward. Aug. — Seeds flat, 

 borne on one side of the placenta, which is early forced out the ruptured pod. 



Order 42. L.OASACEvE. (Loasa Family.) 



Herbs, with a rough or stinging pubescence, no stipules, the calyx-tube ad- 

 herent to a 1-celled ovary with 2 or 3 parietal placental ; — represented here 

 only by the genus 



1. MENTZELIA, Plumier. (Bart6nia, Nutt.) 



Calyx-tube cylindrical or club-shaped ; the limb 5-parted, persistent. Petals 

 5 or 10, regular, spreading, flat, convolute in the bud, deciduous. Stamens in- 

 definite, rarely few, inserted with the petals on the throat of the calyx. Styles 

 3, more or less united into one : stigmas terminal, minute. Pod at length dry 

 and opening irregularly, few -many-seeded. Seeds flat, anatropous, with little 

 albumen. — Stems erect. Leaves alternate. Flowers terminal, solitary or cy- 

 mose-clustered. (Dedicated to C. Mentzel, an early German botanist.) 



1. M. oligOSperma, Nutt. Rough and adhesive (l°-3° high), much 

 branched, the brittle branches spreading ; leaves ovate and oblong, cut-toothed 

 or angled; flowers yellow (7" -10" broad), opening in sunshine; petals wedge- 

 oblong, pointed; stamens 20 or more: filaments filiform: pod small, about 9- 

 seeded. — Prairies and plains, Illinois, and on the western plains; — where M. 

 ornata and M. nuda, with large white flowers, are showy representatives of 

 the genus. 



Order 43. CACTACEJE. (Cactus Family.) 



Fleshy and thickened mostly leafless plants, of peculiar aspect, globular, 

 or columnar and many-angled, or flattened and jointed, usually with prickles. 

 Flowers solitary, sessile ; the sepals and petals numerous, imbricated in sev- 

 eral rows, adherent to the 1-celled ovary. — Stamens numerous, with long 

 and slender filaments, inserted on the inside of the tube or cup formed by 

 the union of the sepals and petals. Style 1 : stigmas numerous. Fruit a 

 1-celled berry, with numerous campylotropous seeds on several parietal 

 placentae. — Represented east of the Mississippi only by the genus 



