with bright scarlet flowers, which close on the approach of foul
weather, and do not expand in a damp atmosphere. For this
reason, the common name in England, where it is indigenous, is
the Poor Man’s Weatherglass.
H ottonia. L. 5. 1.
H. injlata. L. Water-feather. Named after Professor Hot-
ton, of Leyden ; a singular genus ; aquatic, whorled, and much
divided in its leaves, which grow near the surface ; flower-stalks
arranged like an umbel; swollen greatly between joints, and hollow
within ; a contrivance probably to sustain the flowers, and expose
them to the air and sun. Near Boston and New Bedford.
S amolus. L. 5. 1.
<S. Valerandi. L. Water Pimpernel. Named from its supposed
efficacy in curing all diseases of swine, from words which
mean salutary to pigs. Grows beside ditches or brooks, in the
vicinity of Boston, with small white flowers and stem a foot high ;
native of Britain.
G laux. L. 5. 1.
G. maritima. L. Black Saltwort. From the Greek for
glaucous, and its loving the sea, about salt marshes ; stem 4 or 5
inches high, very leafy ; leaves opposite, roundish, smooth, fleshy;
minute, reddish-white flowers ; ho corolla, and a bell-form calyx.
L ysimachia. L. 5. 1. Loosestrife. |
The English name is a translation of the Greek original, anciently
supposed to quiet restive oxen ; or after king Lysimachus
of Sicily. Loudon. The species are natives chiefly of Europe
and North America. In the latter, about a dozen species have
been found ; 5 are credited to this State, and are widely diffused.
L . capitata. Ph. Inhabits swamps ; flowers capitate.
L. racemosa. Lmk. Has a long terminal raceme, and stem
erect and smooth ; in low grounds.
L . quadrifolia. L. Whorls of 4 or 5 leaves ; low grounds.
L. ciliata. Mx. Has ciliate petioles ; hedges and banks.
L. hybrida. Mx. Very like the preceding; moist grounds.
All are rather handsome wild plants, with small yellow flowers.
T rientalis . L. 7. 1.
No reason assigned for the name, a third p a rt; only 2 species,
T. Europcea, and the one native in this country.
T. Americana. Ph. Chick Wintergreen. A small, beautiful
plant, not green through winter, having a cluster of leaves at the
summit with the flowers ; blossoms with white stellate petals. It
is little different from the European ; grows in open woods, and
blossoms in May. It would form a handsome plant for gardens.
ORDER 208. L EN T IBU LA R L E .
Persistent, inferior, divided calyx ; irregular, 2-lipped, mono-
petalous,"hypogynous corolla, with a spur ; stamens 2, inserted at
the base of the corolla ; ovary 1-celled, style 1 ; capsule 1-celled,
many-seeded ; growing in water or marshes ; leaves radical and
simple, or compound, similar to roots, bearing little vesicles.
No known valuable properties ; most abundant within the tropics.
U tricularia. L. 2. 1. Bladderwort.
Named from the vesicles on the leaves. Seven species credited
to Massachusetts. The vesicles become filled with air, and raise
the plant in the spring in the water so that the flower-stalk may
rise above the water, and the blossom be fertilized and the fruit
perfected. The vesicles contract in the latter part of the season,
and the plant sinks.
U. vulgaris. L. Common Bladderwort. In ponds, floating ;
scape 5 — 9 flowered ; spur incurved ; August.
U. cornuta. Mx. Leafless Bladderwort. Grows on wet rocks