1. C. oblongifòlia, Don. Stems visually erect and simple, ½–1° high; leaves from narrowly oblong to oval, very obtuse, sessile (1´ long or less); corolla blue, sometimes purple-dotted or mottled, seldom 1´ long; calyx-lobes nearly distinct, filiform-setaceous, hirsute.—Pine-barrens, S. Va. to Fla.
2. RUÉLLIA, Plumier.
Calyx 5-parted. Corolla funnel-form, with spreading ample border, convolute in the bud. Stamens 4, the cells of the somewhat arrow-shaped anthers parallel and nearly equal. Capsule narrow, in our species somewhat flattened, contracted and seedless at the base, above 8–12-seeded. Seeds with a mucilaginous coat, when wet exhibiting under the microscope innumerable tapering short bristles, their walls marked with rings or spirals.—Perennials, with rather large and showy blue or purple flowers, mostly in axillary clusters, sometimes also with small flowers precociously close-fertilized in the bud. Calyx often 2-bracteolate. (Named for the early herbalist, John Ruelle.)
1. R. ciliòsa, Pursh. Hirsute with soft whitish hairs (1–3° high); leaves nearly sessile, oval or ovate-oblong (1–2´ long); flowers 1–3 and almost sessile in the axils; tube of the corolla (1–1½´ long) fully twice the length of the setaceous calyx-lobes; the throat short.—Dry ground, Mich. to Minn., south to Fla. and La. June–Sept.—Var. ambígua, Gray. Sparingly hirsute-pubescent or glabrate; leaves ovate-oblong, usually short-petioled, larger; tube of corolla little exceeding the hardly hirsute calyx.—Va. and Ky. to Ala. Appearing like a hybrid with the next.
2. R. strèpens, L. Glabrous or sparingly pubescent (1–4° high); leaves narrowed at base into a petiole, ovate, obovate, or mostly oblong (2½–5´ long); tube of the corolla (about 1´ long) little longer than the dilated portion, slightly exceeding the lanceolate or linear calyx-lobes.—Rich soil, Penn. to Wisc., south to Fla. and Tex. July–Sept.—Var. cleistántha, Gray. Leaves commonly narrower and oblong; flowers for most of the season cleistogamous.—Common with the ordinary form.
3. DIANTHÈRA, Gronov. Water-Willow.
Calyx 5-parted. Corolla deeply 2-lipped; the upper lip erect, notched; the lower spreading, 3-parted, external in the bud. Stamens 2; anthers 2-celled, the cells separated and somewhat unequal. Capsule obovate, flattened, contracted at base into a short stalk, 4-seeded.—Perennial herbs, growing in water or wet places, with entire leaves, and purplish flowers in axillary peduncled spikes or heads. (Name formed of δίς, double, and ἀνθηρά, anther; the separated cells giving the appearance of two anthers on each filament.)
1. D. Americàna, L. Stem 1–3° high; leaves linear-lanceolate, elongated; spikes oblong, dense, long-peduncled; corolla 4–5´´ long.—In water, N. W. Vt. to Wisc., south to S. C. and Tex. July–Sept.
Order 81. VERBENÀCEÆ. (Vervain Family.)
Herbs or shrubs, with opposite leaves, more or less 2-lipped or irregular corolla, and didynamous stamens, the 2–4-celled (in Phryma 1-celled) fruit dry or drupaceous, usually splitting when ripe into as many 1-seeded indehiscent nutlets; differing from the following order in the ovary not being 4-lobed, the style therefore terminal, and the plants seldom aromatic or furnishing a volatile oil.—Seeds with a straight embryo and little or no albumen.—A large order in the warmer parts of the world, sparingly represented in cool regions.