The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Part 67

16. . serrulata, Nutt. Slender (3--15' high), simple or branched, canescent or glabrous; leaves linear to lanceolate (1--3' long), _irregularly and sharply denticulate; calyx-tube broadly funnnelform (2--4' long)_, strongly nerved; petals broadly obovate (3--4" long), crenulate; capsule 9--15" long.--Wisc. and Minn. to Mo., Tex., and N. Mex.

5. GAuRA, L.

Calyx-tube much prolonged beyond the ovary, deciduous; the lobes 4 (rarely 3), reflexed. Petals clawed, unequal or turned to the upper side. Stamens mostly 8, often turned down, as is also the long style. A small scale-like appendage before the base of each filament. Stigma 4-lobed, surrounded by a ring or cup-like border. Fruit hard and nut-like, 3--4-ribbed or angled, indehiscent or nearly so, usually becoming 1-celled and 1--4-seeded. Seeds naked.--Leaves alternate, sessile. Flowers rose-color or white, changing to reddish in fading, in spikes or racemes, in our species quite small (so that the name, from ?a????, _superb_, does not seem appropriate).

[*] _Fruit sessile or nearly so._

1. G. biennis, L. _Soft-hairy or downy_ (3--8 high); _leaves oblong-lanceolate_, denticulate; _spikes wand-like; fruit oval or oblong_, acute at both ends; 2--3" long, ribbed, downy.--Dry banks, N. Y. to Minn., and southward. Aug.

2. G. parviflra, Dougl. Soft-villous and p.u.b.erulent, 2--5 high; _leaves ovate-lanceolate_, repand-denticulate, _soft-p.u.b.escent; spikes dense; fruit oblong-clavate_, narrowed to both ends, _4-nerved_, obtusely angled above, 3--4" long.--Mo. to La. and westward.

3. G. coccinea, Nutt. _Canescent, p.u.b.erulent or glabrate_ (6--12' high), very leafy; _leaves lanceolate, linear-oblong or linear_, repand-denticulate or entire; flowers in simple spikes, rose-color turning to scarlet; _fruit terete below, 4-sided and broader above_, 2--3" long.--Minn. to Kan., and westward.

[*][*] _Fruit slender-pedicelled._

4. G. filipes, s.p.a.ch. Nearly smooth; stem slender (2--4 high); leaves linear, mostly toothed, tapering at base; branches of the panicle very slender, naked; fruit obovate-club-shaped, 4-angled at the summit.--Open places, Va. to Fla., west to Ill., Kan., and Ark.

6. STENoSIPHON, s.p.a.ch.

Calyx prolonged beyond the ovary into a filiform tube. Filaments (8) not appendaged at base. Fruit 1-celled, 1-seeded. Otherwise as Gaura, which it also resembles in habit. (From ste???, _narrow_, and s?f??, _a tube_.)

1. S. virgatus, s.p.a.ch. Slender, 2--4 high, glabrous, leafy, leaves narrowly lanceolate to linear, pointed, entire, much reduced above; flowers numerous in an elongated spike, white, ' long; fruit p.u.b.escent, oblong-ovate, 8-ribbed, small.--E. Kan. to Col. and Tex.

7. CIRCae'A, Tourn. ENCHANTER'S NIGHTSHADE.

Calyx-tube slightly prolonged, the end filled by a cup-shaped disk, deciduous; lobes 2, reflexed. Petals 2, inversely heart-shaped. Stamens 2. Fruit indehiscent, small and bur-like, bristly with hooked hairs, 1--2-celled; cells 1-seeded.--Low and inconspicuous perennials, in cool or damp woods, with opposite thin leaves on slender petioles, and small whitish flowers in racemes, produced in summer. (Named from _Circe_, the enchantress.)

1. C. Lutetiana, L. Taller (1--2 high); _leaves ovate_, slightly toothed; _bracts none_; hairs of the _roundish 2-celled fruit bristly_.--Very common. (Eu.)

2. C. alpna, L. _Low_ (3--8' high), _smooth and weak; leaves heart-shaped, thin, shining, coa.r.s.ely toothed; bracts minute_; hairs of the obovate-oblong _1-celled fruit_ soft and slender.--Deep woods, N. Eng. to Ga., Ind., and Minn. (Eu.)

ORDER 43. LOASaCEae. (LOASA FAMILY.)

_Herbs, with a rough or stinging p.u.b.escence, no stipules, the calyx-tube adherent to a 1-celled ovary with 2 or 3 parietal placentae_;--represented here only by the genus

1. MENTZeLIA, Plumier.

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

Petals 5 or 10, regular, spreading, flat, convolute in the bud, deciduous. Stamens indefinite, rarely few, inserted with the petals on the throat of the calyx. Styles 3, more or less united into one; stigmas terminal, minute. Capsule at length dry and opening by valves or irregularly at the summit, few--many-seeded. Seeds flat, anatropous, with little alb.u.men.--Stems erect. Leaves alternate, very adhesive by the barbed p.u.b.escence. Flowers terminal, solitary or cymose-cl.u.s.tered.

(Dedicated to _C. Mentzel_, an early German botanist.)

[*] _Seeds few, oblong, not winged; petals 5, not large; filaments all filiform._

1. M. oligosperma, Nutt. Rough and adhesive (1--3 high), much branched, the brittle branches spreading; leaves ovate and oblong, cut-toothed or angled, often petioled; flowers yellow (7--10" broad), opening in sunshine; petals wedge-oblong, pointed; stamens 20 or more; capsule small, about 9-seeded.--Prairies and plains, Ill. to Kan. and Col., south to Tex.

[*][*] _Seeds numerous, rounded and wing-margined; petals 10, large and showy; outer filaments petaloid in n. 3; capsule large, oblong; leaves sessile._

2. M. ornata, Torr. & Gray. Stout, 1--2 high; leaves oblong-lanceolate, deeply repand-toothed or pinnatifid, the segments acute; calyx-tube leafy-bracteate; petals 2--3' long, yellowish-white; filaments all filiform or the outer dilated below; capsule 1{}--2' long; seeds narrowly margined.--On the plains, W. Dak. to central Kan. and Tex.

3. M. nuda, Torr. & Gray. More slender, 1--5 high; leaves somewhat lanceolate, rather bluntly or shortly repand-dentate; _flowers half as large as in the last; calyx not bracteate; outer filaments narrowly dilated_, sterile; _capsule about 1' long; seeds plainly winged_.--Plains of Dak. to central Kan. and Tex.

ORDER 44. Pa.s.sIFLORaCEae. (Pa.s.sION-FLOWER FAMILY.)

_Herbs or woody plants, climbing by tendrils, with perfect flowers, 5 monadelphous stamens, and a stalked 1-celled ovary free from the calyx, with 3 or 4 parietal placentae, and as many club-shaped styles._

1. Pa.s.sIFLRA, L. Pa.s.sION-FLOWER.

Calyx of 5 sepals united at the base into a short cup, imbricated in the bud, usually colored like the petals, at least within; the throat crowned with a double or triple fringe. Petals 5, on the throat of the calyx. Stamens 5; filaments united in a tube which sheathes the long stalk of the ovary, separate above; anthers large, fixed by the middle.

Berry (often edible) many-seeded; the anatropous alb.u.minous seeds invested by a pulpy covering. Seed-coat brittle, grooved.--Leaves alternate, generally palmately lobed, with stipules. Peduncles axillary, jointed. Ours are perennial herbs. (An adaptation of _flos pa.s.sionis_, a translation of _fior della pa.s.sione_, the popular Italian name early applied to the flower from a fancied resemblance of its parts to the implements of the crucifixion.)

1. P. lutea, L. Smooth, slender; _leaves obtusely 3-lobed at the summit, the lobes entire_; petioles glandless; flowers greenish-yellow (1'

broad); fruit ' in diameter.--Damp thickets, S. Penn. to Fla., west to Ill., Mo., and La.

2. P. incarnata, L. p.u.b.escent; _leaves 3--5-cleft, the lobes serrate_, the base bearing 2 glands; flower large (2' broad), nearly white, with a triple purple and flesh-colored crown; involucre 3-leaved; fruit as large as a hen's egg.--Dry soil, Va. to Fla., west to Mo. and Ark. Fruit called _maypops_.

ORDER 45. CUCURBITaCEae. (GOURD FAMILY.)

_Mostly succulent herbs with tendrils, dicious or moncious (often gamopetalous) flowers, the calyx-tube cohering with the 1--3-celled ovary, and the 5 or usually 2 stamens_ (i.e., 1 with a 1-celled and 2 with 2-celled anthers) _commonly united by their often tortuous anthers, and sometimes also by the filaments. Fruit_ (pepo) _fleshy, or sometimes membranaceous_.--Limb of the calyx and corolla usually more or less combined. Stigmas 2 or 3. Seeds large, usually flat, anatropous, with no alb.u.men. Cotyledons leaf-like. Leaves alternate, palmately lobed or veined.--Mostly a tropical or subtropical order; represented in cultivation by the GOURD (LAGENaRIA VULGaRIS), PUMPKIN and SQUASH (species of CUCURBITA), MUSKMELON (Cuc.u.mIS MeLO), CUc.u.mBER (C. SATVUS), and WATERMELON (CITRuLLUS VULGaRIS).

[*] Fruit p.r.i.c.kly. Seeds few, erect or pendulous. Flowers white. Annual.

[+] Ovary 1-celled. Seed solitary, pendulous.

1. Sicyos. Corolla of the sterile flowers flat and spreading, 5-lobed.

Fruit indehiscent.

[+][+] Ovary 2--3-celled. Seeds few, erect or ascending.

2. Echinocystis. Corolla of the sterile flowers flat and spreading, 6-parted. Anthers 3. Fruit bladdery, 2-celled, 4-seeded, bursting at the top.

3. Cyclanthera. Corolla 5-parted. Anther 1, annular. Fruit oblique and gibbous.

[*][*] Fruit smooth. Seeds numerous, horizontal, attached to the 3--5 parietal placentae. Perennial.

4. Melothria. Flowers small, greenish; corolla 5-parted. Slender, climbing. Fruit small.

5. Cucurbita. Flowers large, yellow, tubular-campanulate. Prostrate.

Fruit large.

1. SiCYOS, L. ONE-SEEDED BUR-CUc.u.mBER.