The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Part 64

Calyx-tube urn-shaped, coherent with the ovary below, and continued above it, persistent, 4-cleft at the apex. Petals 4, convolute in the bud, oblique, inserted along with the 8 stamens on the summit of the calyx-tube. Anthers long, 1-celled, inverted in the bud. Style 1; stigma 1. Capsule invested by the permanent calyx, 4-celled, with 4 many-seeded placentae projecting from the central axis. Seeds coiled like a snail sh.e.l.l, without alb.u.men.--Low perennial herbs, often bristly, with mostly sessile 3--5-nerved and bristly-edged leaves, and large showy cymose flowers; in summer; the petals falling early. (A name in Pliny for some unknown plant, probably from ?????, _a crevice_, from the place of growth.)

[*] _Anthers linear, curved, with a minute spur on the back at the attachment of the filament above its base; flowers cymose, peduncled._

1. R. Virginica, L. _Stem square_, with wing-like angles; _leaves oval-lanceolate, sessile, acute_; calyx-tube and pedicels more or less hispid with gland-tipped hairs; petals bright purple.--Sandy swamps; coast of Maine to Fla., west to northern N. Y., Ind., Mo., and La.

Slender rootstocks tuberiferous.

2. R. aristsa, Britt. Branches somewhat wing-angled; leaves linear-oblong, sessile, not narrowed at base, naked or very spa.r.s.ely hairy; hairs of the calyx mostly below the throat, not gland-tipped; petals spa.r.s.ely villous, bright purple.--Egg Harbor City, N. J. (_J. E.

Peters_); also Sumter Co., S. C. (_J. D. Smith_).

3. R. Mariana, L. _Stems cylindrical; leaves linear-oblong_, narrowed below, mostly petiolate; petals paler.--Sandy swamps; N. J. to Fla., west to Mo. and La.

[*][*] _Anthers oblong, straight, without any spur; flowers few, sessile._

4. R. cilisa, Michx. Stem square, glabrous; leaves broadly ovate, ciliate with long bristles; calyx glabrous.--Md. to Fla. and La.

ORDER 41. LYTHRaCEae. (LOOSESTRIFE FAMILY.)

_Herbs, with mostly opposite entire leaves, no stipules, the calyx enclosing but free from the 1--4-celled many-seeded ovary and membranous capsule, and bearing the 4--7 deciduous petals and 4--14 stamens on its throat; the latter lower down. Style 1; stigma capitate, or rarely 2-lobed._--Flowers axillary or whorled, rarely irregular, perfect, sometimes dimorphous or even trimorphous, those on different plants with filaments and style reciprocally longer and shorter. Petals sometimes wanting. Capsule often 1-celled by the early breaking away of the thin part.i.tions; placentae in the axis. Seeds anatropous, without alb.u.men.--Branches usually 4-sided.

[*] Flowers regular or nearly so.

[+] Flowers mostly solitary in the axils of the leaves, sessile or nearly so.

1. Didiplis. Calyx short, without appendages. Petals none. Stamens 4.

Capsule indehiscent. Small aquatic.

2. Rotala. Calyx short, the sinuses appendaged. Petals and stamens 4.

Capsule septicidal, with 3--4 valves.

3. Ammannia. Flowers not trimorphous. Petals generally 4 or none.

Stamens 4. Capsule bursting irregularly.

[+][+] Flowers in 3--many-flowered axillary cymes (rarely solitary).

4. Lythrum. Calyx tubular. Petals usually 6. Stamens mostly 6 or 12.

Flowers cymose-spicate in one species.

5. Decodon. Flowers trimorphous. Petals 5 (rarely 4). Stamens 8--10.

Capsule 3--4-valved, loculicidal.

[*][*] Flowers irregular and unsymmetrical, with 6 petals and 11 stamens.

6. Cuphea. Calyx spurred or enlarged on one side at base. Petals unequal.

1. DIDiPLIS, Raf. WATER PURSLANE.

Calyx short-campanulate or semiglobose, with no appendages at the sinuses (or a mere callous point). Petals none. Stamens 4, short.

Capsule globular, indehiscent, 2-celled.--Submersed aquatic (sometimes terrestrial), rooting in the mud, with opposite linear leaves, and very small greenish flowers solitary in their axils. ("Didiplis means _two doubling_;" from di?, _twice_, and d?p?o??, _double_.)

1. D. linearis, Raf. Leaves when submersed elongated, thin, closely sessile by a broad base, when emersed shorter and contracted at base; calyx with broad triangular lobes; style very short; capsules very small. (Ammannia Nuttallii, _Gray_.)--From Minn. and Wisc. to Tex., east to N. C. and Fla.

2. ROTaLA, L.

Calyx short-campanulate or semiglobose, with tooth-like appendages at the sinuses (abnormally, in our species). Petals 4 (in ours). Stamens 4, short. Capsule globular, 4-celled, septicidal, the valves (under a strong lens) transversely and densely striate. (Name a diminutive of _rota_, a wheel, from the whorled leaves of the original species.)

1. R. ramsior, Koehne. Leaves tapering at base or into a short petiole, linear-oblanceolate or somewhat spatulate; flowers solitary (rarely 3) in the axils and sessile; accessory teeth of calyx as long as the lobes or shorter. (Ammannia humilis, _Michx._)--Low or wet ground, Ma.s.s. to Fla., west to Ind., Kan., and Tex.--With Ammannia-like habit, an exception in the genus.

3. AMMaNNIA, Houston.

Flowers in 3--many-flowered axillary cymes. Calyx globular or bell-shaped, 4-angled, 4-toothed, usually with a little horn-shaped appendage at each sinus. Petals 4 (purplish), small and deciduous, sometimes wanting. Stamens 4--8. Capsule globular, 2--4-celled, bursting irregularly.--Low and inconspicuous smooth herbs, with opposite narrow leaves, and small flowers in their axils, produced all summer.

(Named after _Paul Ammann_, a German botanist anterior to Linnaeus.)

1. A. coccinea, Rottb. Leaves linear-lanceolate (2--3' long), with a broad auricled sessile base; cymes subsessile, dense; petals purplish; stamens more or less exserted; style usually slender; capsule included.

(A. latifolia, _Gray_, Manual, not _L._)--N. J. to Fla., west to S. Ind., Kan., and Tex. The style varies much in length, sometimes in the same specimen. Apparently the more developed form of the southern A.

latifolium, L., which, as limited by Koehne, has apetalous flowers, with included stamens and short style.

4. LTHRUM, L. LOOSESTRIFE.

Calyx cylindrical, striate, 5--7-toothed, with as many little processes in the sinuses. Petals 5--7. Stamens as many as the petals or twice the number, inserted low down on the calyx, commonly nearly equal. Capsule oblong, 2-celled.--Slender herbs, with opposite or scattered mostly sessile leaves, and purple (rarely white) flowers; produced in summer.

(Name from ??????, _blood_; perhaps from the styptic properties of some species.)

[*] _Stamens and petals 5--7; flowers small, solitary and nearly sessile in the axils of the mostly scattered upper leaves; proper calyx-teeth often shorter than the intermediate processes; plants smooth._

1. L. Hyssopiflia, L. Low annual (6--10' high), pale; leaves oblong-linear, obtuse, longer than the inconspicuous flowers; petals pale-purple; stamens usually 4--6, included.--Marshes, near the coast, Maine to N. J. (Eu.)

2. L. lineare, L. Stem slender and tall (3--4 high), bushy at top, _with 2 margined angles; leaves linear, chiefly opposite_; petals whitish; flowers with 6 included stamens and a short style, or the stamens exserted and style short; _ovary on a thick short stalk; no fleshy hypogynous ring_.--Brackish marshes, N. J. to Fla. and Tex.

3. L. alatum, Pursh. Tall and wand-like perennial; _branches with margined angles; leaves oblong-ovate to linear-lanceolate, acute, with a cordate or rounded base_, the upper mostly _alternate; calyx 2--4"

long_; petals rather large, deep-purple; _stamens of the short-styled flowers exserted; fleshy hypogynous ring prominent_.--Ont. to Minn., south to Ga., Ark., and Col.; also near Boston.

[*][*] _Stamens 12 (rarely 8 or 10), twice the number of the petals, 6 longer and 6 shorter; flowers large, crowded and whorled in an interrupted spike._

L. SALICaRIA, L. (SPIKED LOOSESTRIFE.) More or less downy and tall; leaves lanceolate, heart-shaped at base, sometimes whorled in threes; flowers purple, trimorphous in the relative lengths of the stamens and style.--Wet meadows, N. Scotia to Del. (Nat. from Eu.)

5. DeCODON, Gmel. SWAMP LOOSESTRIFE.

Calyx short, broadly bell-shaped or hemispherical, with 5--7 erect teeth, and as many longer and spreading horn-like processes at the sinuses. Petal 5. Stamens 10 (rarely 8), exserted, of two lengths.

Capsule globose, 3--5-celled, loculicidal.--Perennial herbs or slightly shrubby plants, with opposite or whorled leaves, and axillary cl.u.s.ters of trimorphous flowers. (Name from d??a, _ten_, and ?d???, _tooth_.)

1. D. verticillatus, Ell. Smooth or downy; stems recurved (2--8 long), 4--6-sided; leaves lanceolate, nearly sessile, opposite or whorled, the upper with cl.u.s.tered flowers in their axils on short pedicels; petals 5, wedge-lanceolate, rose-purple (' long); stamens 10, half of them shorter. (Nesaea verticillata, _HBK._)--Swampy grounds, N. Eng. to Fla., west to Ont., Minn., and La. Bark of the lower part of the stem often spongy-thickened.