94 
LEPTANTHUS gramineus. 
Grass4eaved Leptanthus. 
TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA._Nat. Ord. JUNCEJE. 
Gen. Char. — Spalha uniflora. Perianthium coloratum, inferunij tubo lon- 
gissimo gracili, limbo sexpartito aequali. Stylus apice incrassatus. Cap- 
sula unilocularis, trivalvis, polysperma. Semina receptaculis tribus fili- 
formibus valvarura medio affixis inserta. 
L. gramineus. 
L. gramineus, Mich. Fl. Bar. Am. v. i. p. 25. t. 5. f. 2. — Nutt. Gen. v. i. 
p. 29. 
Heteranthera graminea, Vahl, E^ium. v. ii. p. i5. — Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. 
V. i. p. 32.' — RoEM. et ScHULTES, Syst. Veg. v. i. p. 488. 
" Schollera graminifolia, Willd. N. Act. Soc. Scrut. Hist. Nat. 3. p. 438." 
Commelina dubia, Jacq. Obs. Bot. v. iii. p. 9. t, 39- 
Plant aquatic, submerged, much resembling Potamogeton grami7ieiim ; with 
longish, slender, waved and geniculated subdichotomous stems, and nu- 
merous, alternate, dark green, linear, submembranaceous leaves, obtuse, 
about 3 inches in length, with a large, sheathing, semipellucid ligule at 
the base, like that of the grasses. 
From the axils of the leaves springs the solitary jiower, arising from a long, 
cylindrical, membranaceous spatha, and that again surrounded by the li- 
gule of the leaf. Perianth single. Tube very long, slender, greenish, 
swollen at the base, where the germen is situated. Limb cut into six 
equal, spreading, linear, bright yellow segments. 
Stamens three, inserted at the mouth of the tube, quite yellow. Filatnent 
broadly subulate. Anther oblong, 2-celled, cells opening longitudinally, 
and facing the style. Pollen yellow. Germen oblong, tapering into the 
very long, slender style, which is clavate above. Stigma glandular, ob- 
scurely three or six cleft Capsule, when unexpanded, oblong, full of 
gibbosities from the swelling of the seeds within, and entirely covered 
with the marcescent perianth, 1 -celled, 3-valved, (the valves are indicated 
by the suture). Each of these three valves has a filiform, zig-zag re- 
ceptacle, slightly attached to its centre, upon which, on alternate sides, 
the seeds are inserted. These are ovate or oval, striated, with a raphis 
which communicates with the top, so that the seed is actually pendent. 
Albumen between fleshy and farinaceous, dense. Embryo cylindrical, in- 
cluded. Radicle opposite the hilum. 
YOL. II. 
