LEPTANTHUS craminevs. 
Grass-leaved Leptanthus. 
TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA. —Nar. Orv. JUNCE. 
GEN. Cake —Spatha uniflora. Pesitethiuen coloratum, inferum, tdbe lon- 
gissimo gracili, limbo sexpartito equali. Stylus apice incrassatus. Cap- 
sula unilocularis, trivalvis, polysperma. Semina receptaculis tribus fili- 
formibus valvarum medio affixis inserta. — 
L. gramineus. 
L. gramineus, Micu. Fl. Bor. dm. v. i. p. 25. t. 5. £. 2.—Nutr. Gen. vei. 
p- 29. 
Heteranthera graminea, Vaun_, Enum. v. ii. p- 45 Pie. Fil. a. Sept. 
v. i. p. 32..-Rorm. et Scuutes, Syst. Veg. v.i. p. 488. 
« Schollera graminifolia, WiLup. N. Act. Soc. Scrut. Hist. Nat. 3. p. 438.” 
Commelina dubia, Jacq. Obs. Bot. v. ili. p. 9. t. 39. 
Plant aquatic, submerged, much resembling Potamogeton gramineum ; 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 flower, arising from a Tobie, 
- eylindrical, membranaceous spatha, and that again surrounded by the li- 
-gule of the leaf. Perianth singles ube 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. Fileinent 
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 gleft. 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. : . 
VOR. il. 
