Calyx bell-shaped, herbaceous. Stamens equally inserted at the summit of the very short tube of the open-bell-shaped or short funnel-form corolla; filaments slender, declined, hairy-appendaged at the base. Capsule few–several-seeded.—Perennials, with alternate pinnate leaves, the upper leaflets sometimes confluent; the (blue or white) corymbose flowers nearly bractless. (An ancient name, from πόλεμος, war, of doubtful application.)
1. P. réptans, L. Smooth throughout or slightly pubescent; stems weak and spreading (6–10´ high, never creeping as the name denotes); leaflets 5–15, ovate-lanceolate or oblong; corymbs few-flowered; flowers nodding, calyx-lobes ovate, shorter than the tube; stamens and style included; corolla light blue, about ½´ wide; capsules about 3-seeded.—Woods, N. Y. to Minn., south to Ala. and Mo. May, June.
2. P. cærùleum, L. (Jacob's Ladder.) Stem erect (1–3° high); leaflets 9–21, linear-lanceolate, oblong- or ovate-lanceolate, mostly crowded; flowers numerous, in a thyrsus or contracted panicle; lobes of the calyx longer than the tube; stamens and style mostly exserted beyond the bright blue corolla, which is nearly 1´ broad; capsule several-seeded.—Rare in our range, occurring in swamps and on mountains in N. H., N. Y., N. J., and Md., but common in the western mountains and far northward.
Order 71. HYDROPHYLLÀCEÆ. (Waterleaf Family.)
Herbs, commonly hairy, with mostly alternate leaves, regular 5-merous and 5-androus flowers, in aspect between the foregoing and the next order; but the ovary entire and 1-celled with 2 parietal 4–many-ovuled placentæ, or rarely 2-celled by the union of the placentæ in the axis; style 2-cleft, or 2 separate styles; fruit a 2-valved 4–many-seeded capsule.—Seeds mostly reticulated or pitted. Embryo small in copious albumen.—Flowers chiefly blue or white, in one-sided cymes or false racemes, which are mostly bractless and coiled from the apex when young, as in the Borage Family. A small order of plants of no marked properties; some cultivated for ornament.
Tribe I. HYDROPHYLLEÆ. Ovary and capsule 1-celled. Seeds pitted or reticulated; albumen cartilaginous. Leaves cut-toothed, lobed or pinnate. Style 2-cleft.
[*] Ovary lined with the dilated and fleshy placentæ, which enclose the ovules and seeds (in our plants only 4) like an inner pericarp.
1. Hydrophyllum. Stamens exserted; anthers linear. Calyx unchanged in fruit.
2. Nemophila. Stamens included; anthers short. Calyx with appendages at the sinuses.
3. Ellisia. Stamens included. Calyx destitute of appendages, enlarged in fruit.