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43
IMPATIENS biflora.
Two-fiowered Touch me not.
Natural Order. Balsamine^:.
IM PA T IE N S . Calyx 2-sepalus. Corolla 5-petala, hy-
pogyna, irregularia et insequalia ; superius latius fornicatum
inferius breve basi calcaratum ; lateralia seu interiora 2 basi
appendiculata aut interdum bipartita. Stamina 5 bypogyna,
filamentis brevibus primó monadelphis, dein maturatione distinctis,
antherarum persistente superna coalitione. Germen 1 ;
stylus 0; stigma acutum. Capsula oblonga 5-locularis polysperma
5-valvis, elastice dissiliens valvis in spiram intortis,
dissepimentis membranaceis ex receptáculo columnari centrali
seminifero enatis et valvularum margini appositis; corculum
seminis rectum absque perispermo.
Herbse ; folia alterna aut rariùs apposita, non stipulacea ;
pedunculi axillares uni aut multiflori. Genus, antea Papavera-
ceis adjectum, simile calyce 2-pliyllo et corolla 4-petala et stylo
nullo, sed discrepane antheris definitis et connatis, fructu mul-
tiloculari et multivalvi, receptáculo centrali et foliis interdum
oppositis. Extàs convenit Geraniis Africanis similiter calca-
ratis, sed huic ut et Tropeolo calcar liberum, non pedicello
inheerens ut in Geraniis ; diversa insuper staminum et fructus
et seminis structura. Genus ergò sui ordinis nunc veri unicum.
An pro calyCe habenda pétala 2 exteriora, calycis munus jam
obeuntia in flore nondàm explicato? Juss. gen. 270.
I. biflora, pedunculis plerumque bifloris solitariis, foliis ovatis
argute dentatis. Pursh. fl. amer. sept. 1. p . 171.
Impatiens biflora. Willd. sp. pi. 1. p . 1J75. Walt. flor.
car. 219. Pers. syn. 1. p . 257. Hort. sub. lond. 47.
Annual. Stem upright, 2 to 3 feet high, rather
flexuose, tumid at the joints, much branched, smooth
and glossy; branches spreading in all directions,
flexuose, of a glossy purple, angular. Leaves ovate,
acute, sharply toothed with short teeth, longer, and
sharper at the base, reticulately veined underneath,
and furrowed on the upper side, soft and tender, soon
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