DlAPENSIA. 



DIAPENSIACEiE. 



95 



Order LXXV. DIAPENSIACEjE. Lindl The Diapensia Tribe. 



Calyx of five imbricated sepals, persistent, with three bracts at the base. Corolla 

 somewhat salverform, 5-lobed. Stamens 5, with broad petaloid filaments 

 which are inserted into the throat of the corolla, and alternate with its lobes : 

 anthers transversely or obliquely 2-valved. Ovary 3-celled, with few or many 

 ovules in each cell. Capsule 3-valved, loculicidal. Seeds pitted. Embryo 

 in the axis of fleshy albumen. — Low prostrate evergreens, growing in tufts, 

 with crowded leaves and solitary terminal flowers. Pollen simple, spherical. 



1. DIAPENSIA. Linn. ; Endl. gen. 4345. diapensia. 



[A Greek name for the Sanicle, and applied to this plant by Linnaeus.] 



Calyx herbaceous ; the segments unequal, smooth. Corolla 5-lobed. Filaments broadly 

 linear : anther-cells distinct, oblong, opening obliquely. Ovary with numerous ovules. — 

 A densely tufted evergreen, with a woody caudex, thick spatulate leaves, and peduncled 

 solitary flowers. 



1. Diapensia Lapponica, Linn. Lapland Diapensia. 



Linn. fl. Lapp. no. 88. t. l.f. 1 ; Wahl. fl. Lapp. p. 58. t 9 ; Torr.Jl. I. p. 230 ; Bigel. 

 fl. Bost. p. 83 ; Beck, hot. p. 250 ; Brit. fl. gard. (ser. 2.) t. 251 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. 

 p. 76. D. obtusifolia, Salisb. parad. Lond. t. 104; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 147. 



Caudex woody, buried in the ground ; the branches very densely covered with leaves, 

 forming thick firm tufts. Leaves about half an inch long and rather more than a line broad, 

 spatulate, imbricate, very smooth, a little recurved. Flowers on short peduncles. Bracts 

 resembling the segments of the calyx ; the outer one sometimes rather remote. Calyx parted 

 to the base ; the segments somewhat unequal in length and breadth, very obtuse. Corolla 

 white ; the lobes short and rounded. Stamens shorter than the corolla : filaments smooth : 

 anthers of two roundish lobes, opening obliquely by a slit. Ovary roundish -ovoid, with 

 numerous ovules in each cell, attached to the outside of fleshy placentae : style straight, about 

 as long as the stamens : stigma small, obscurely 3-lobed. Capsule cartilaginous, obtusely 

 3-angled : seeds somewhat angular, pitted. 



Summit of Mount Marcy and Mount Mclntyre, Essex county. Fl. Early in July. Fr. 

 September. This plant has not been found elsewhere in the United States, except on the 

 highest peaks of the White Mountains of New-Hampshire. It occurs in Labrador, in Arctic 

 America, and in the northern regions of Europe. 



