obovate, smooth and shining, black, marked with an inconspicuous raphe.
Embryo oblong, at the base o f the cartilaginous albumen.—“ The sensitiveness
of the lamina,” according to Mr. Curtis, “ resides only in the 3 or 4
hair-like processes of its upper surface, so placed that an insect can hardly
' traverse it without interfering with one of them ; when the two sides suddenly
collapse and enclose the prey, the fringe or hairs of the opposite sides
of the leaf interlacing like the fingers of the two hands clasped together.”
See the further remarks of Mr. Curtis in loc. c%t.
S u b o r d e r PARNASSIEiE. A m . (excl. Dionsea.)
Sepals 5, persistent, imbricated in aestivation; more or less united
at the base and coherent with the base of the ovary. Petals 5, somewhat
perigynous, persistent, alternate with the petals: venation simple.
Stamens, perigynous, persistent, consisting o f an outer sterile series,
somewhat indefinite in number, united in 5 phalanges situated
opposite the petals; and an inner series o f 5 fertile stamens alternating
with the petals : anthers fixed by the base, introrse. Ovary composed
o f 4 united carpels. 1-celled, with 4 sessile stigmas opposite the
parietal placentae. Capsule 1-celled, 4-valved, loculicidal. Seeds very
numerous, anatropous, with an arilliform winged testa : albumen none.
Embryo straight, with a slender radicle and minute cotyledons.— Glabrous
perennial herbs (growing in wet places.) Leaves mostly radical
or nearly so, petioled, exstipulate, entire, with obscure converging
veins. Scapes elongated, 1-flowered : flower white.
This suborder, as characterized above, includes the anomalous genus Parnassia
alone; which was placed by Jussieu, along with Drosera and Reseda, among “ Genera
Capparidibus affinia;” and is referred to Droseracese by Richard, De Candolle,
and (as a suborder) by Arnott; to Saxifragaceae (with which they agree very well,
except in the completely syncarpous ovary and the position of the stigmas,) by
Brown and Lindley ; to Hypericacese by Don ; and (with a mark of doubt) to Tama-
riscinese by Bartling. The curious scale-like organs terminating in three or moré
threads or setae with glandular tips, are doubtless transformed stamens ; but their
situation (opposite the petals and exterior to the fertile stamens) as well as their
structure renders it eyident that .they are not .composed each of a single stamen, as
has been stated, but of 3 or more, as we have described them. That they are so
considered by Don, is manifest from the view he takes of the affinity of the genus,
although the work which contains his remarks is not at this moment before us.
3. PARNASSIA. Town. inst. t. 127; Linn. ; Gcertn. f r , t. 60.
Character same as of the Suborder.
1. P. palustris (Linn.): scales [phalanges o f sterile stamens] with numerous
(9-13) very slender set®; leaves all cordate, the eauline one [when
present] sessile. Hook.—FI. Dan. t. 584-; DC. prodr. l.p . 320; Richards. !
app. Frankl. jown . p. 10 ; Hook. ! fi. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 82..
Labrador! and Newfoundland to Rocky Mountains, lat. 52°-56°, and
Kotzebue’s Sound; south to Canada ! and the south shore of Lake Superior,
Dr. Pitcher!—Scapes slender, 3-8 inches high, naked or with a single
somewhat clasping leaf. Leaves, sepals &c. marked, though not constantly,
as in all the species, with brownish dots. Petals, in American specimens,
3-5-nerved, 4—J longer than the oblong-lanceolate sepals. Set® pellucid,
with minute glandular tips.—Our American specimens are all much
smaller than the ordinary European forms, and have fewer veins in the sepals
and fewer set® to the scales : they agree almost wholly with authentic
specimens of P. palustris 0. tenuis, Wahl, from Lapland.—We take the characters
of this and the two following nearly allied species from Hooker, not
being perfectly satisfied of their distinctness. The set® in these species do
not appear to furnish well-marked characters: we observe 7-12 in the American
P. palustris, 5-8 in P. parviflora, Hook., and 3-5 in P. Kotzebuei.
'2. P. parviflora (DC.) : very slender; scales with about 5 very slender
set® ; radical leaves ovate, attenuate into a petiole ; the eauline one linear-oblong,
sessile. Hook.—DC. prodr. 1. p. 320; Hook.! fi. Bor-Am. 1. p. 82,
excl. syn. P. palustris 0. Wahl.
Sandy banks of rivers among the Rocky Mountains, Drummond! ex
Hook. N. America, DC., who described from a specimen in the Banksian
herbarium.—Scapes from a span to a foot high, with a single braet-like leaf.
Flowers considerably smaller than in P. palustris: petals slightly unguicu-
late. Hook.
3. P. Kotzebuei (Cham. & Schlecht.) : scales with 3 slender set®; radical
leaves (and eauline one when present) subcordate-ovate, petioled; petals
about 3-nerved, shorter than the calyx. Hook.—Cham, df Schlecht. in Lin-
ncea, 1. p. 549; Hook.! 1. c. t. 28; Hook. Am. bot. Beechey, p. 122.
Unalaschka and Kotzebue’s Sound, Chamisso ; Rocky Mountains, between
lat. 52° & 56° (Drummond) to Bear Lake and the shores o f the Arctic
Sea, Richardson !—Scapes slender, naked or with a single leaf near the
base, 3-6 inches high. Leaves membranaceous, very small. Sepals elliptical
lanceolate. Petals elliptical. Anthers subrotund. Ovary oval-globose,,
nearly a third part inferior.—Hooker, and also Cham. & Schlecht., expressly
state the stigmas to be four and the capsule 4-valved, as in the rest of the
genus, and this we find to be the case in our specimens; but the figure in
the Flora Boreali-Americana exhibits several views of a pentacarpellary
capsule, probably a monstrosity.
4. P. Caroliniana (Michx.): scales of 3 stout and thick sterile filaments,
distinct to near the base, about the length of the fertile stamens; petals sub-
sessile, more than twice the length of the calyx, with strong greenish veins;
leaves (coriaceous) orbicular-ovate or somewhat elliptical-ovate, subcordate,
the eauline one usually low down and clasping.—Michx. fi. 1. p. 184; Bot.
mag. t. 1459; Pursh, fi. 1. p. 208; Torr.! fi. 1. p. 326 ; DC. 1. c. ; Hook.
L c. P. palustris, Pursh, l. c. P. Americana & ovata, Muhl.! cat. p. 32.
P. ovata 0. Belvisii, DC. 1. c. ?
0. leaves larger, not rarely orbicular-reniform ; sterile filaments exceeding
the fertile stamens; pollen orange-color. Hook. jour. bot. 1. p. 194- P.
grandifolia, DC. 1. c.
Wet meadows and along shady streams, &c. Canada ! to Florida 1 west
to the Mississippi. 0. New-Orleans, Drummond. July-Aug.—Leaves
about 7-nerved, varying from orbicular-subreniform to ovate-cordate and
broadly oval with no sinus at the base. Scape 8-18 inches high. Flower
an inch in diameter.—We have seen no Southern specimens which agree
with the 0. of Hooker in the sterile stamens, &c.; but Elliott describes them
as “ nearly the length of the corolla,” and “ filaments very short.”
5. P. asarijolia (Vent.): scales of 3 sterile filaments; petals broadly
ovate and very obtuse, naked and abruptly unguiculate at the base ; leaves
reniform; the eauline one reniform-cordate or somewhat orbicular, sessile.—
Vent. Malmais. t. 39 ; Pursh, fi. 1. p. 208 ; Muhl.! cat. p. 32 ; DC. 1. c.
High mountains of Virginia! and N. Carolina! (v. s. in herb. Muhl. &.
herb. Schweinitz.) July-Aug.—Leaves and flowers rather larger than in
P. Caroliniana.—A well-marked species.