This section is from the book "Class-Book Of Botany USA&Canada", by Alphonso Wood. Also available from Amazon: Class-Book Of Botany.
§ Spines 2 in each axil. Bracts not longer than the 5 sepals................................ | No. 1 |
§ Spines none. - Bracts longer than the 3 to 5 - sepaled calyx.................... | Nos. 2, 3 |
- Bracts shorter than the 5 - sepaled calyx.................. | Nos. 4, 5 |
1 E. spinosus Feay. Smooth, striate, purplish, much branched; lvs. long-petioled, rhomb-ovate, or lance-ovate, obtuse, dull green, with 2 axillary spines; panicle sparingly branched, spikes erect, acute, the terminal longest; fls. crowded, 5-parted; bracts, sepals and rugous utricle about equal in length. - Cultivated and waste grounds, Penn. to Ill. and S. States. St. and branches flexuous, 1 to 3f high. Lvs. 2 to 3' long, petioles nearly as long, spines sharp, 3 to 8" long, Utricle certainly valveless (as first noticed by Dr. Feay), and falling without opening. Seed dark brown, polished. Jn. - Oct
2 E. lividua Moq. Erect, branched, smooth, livid-purplish; lvs. long-petioled, elliptic or ovate, obtuse, emarginate, upper acutish; axillary spikes shorter than the petiole, the terminal long, slender, rigid, acute, somewhat interrupted; fls. crowded; sep. 3, thrice longer the bracts; fr. rogous, acute. - Cultivated and waste lands, Va. to Fla. and La. St. stout, hollow, striate, 2 to 3f high. Lvs. 3 to 6' by 2 to 3', petiole 2' to 30," purple. Terminal spike 2 to 4' long. Fls. 3-parted. Utricle slightly exserted. Jn. - Sept.
3 E. deflexus Raf. Ascending, diffusely branched, ashy green, puberulent, branches deflexed: lvs. petiolate, rhomb-lanceolate, obtuse; spikes thickish, obtuse, somewhat nodding, axillary and terminal; lis. crowded, short-pedieelled; sep. 3 to 5, longer than the bracts; fr. smooth. - Waste and cultivated grounds. Mid. States. Sts. branched from base, slender, If long. Lvs. wavy, prominently veined beneath, 6 to 15" long. Stigmas 2 or 3, very short, white. Utricle exserted. Aug., Sept. § Eur.
4 A. viridis Moq. Erect, smooth, livid, purple; lvs. long-petioled, ovate, obtuse; spikes axillary and terminal, paniculate, rather long, loose, acutish; sepals 3, twice longer than the bracts; utricle roundish-ovate, rigulous. - Cultivated and waste grounds, Ala. and La. St. sulcate, 1 to 2f high. Terminal spikes 2 to 3' long. Readily recognized by the baldness of the minute fls.
5 E. pumilus Raf. Low, very smooth, diffusely branched, lvs. subsessile, ovate, obtuse, smooth, fleshy, clustered at the ends of the branches; fls. in small, axillary glomerules, sessile; cal. 5-parted, purplish; fr. smooth, ovate, twice longer than than the calyx. - Sandy sea coast, N. Y. to Ga. Aug. - Oct. (A. pumilus Ell.)
4. ACNI'DA, L. Water Hemp. (Gr. a, not, the nettle; a nettle-like plant which does not sting.) Flowers dioecious, 3-bracted.
Calyx of 5 equal, erect sepals; stamens 5, anthers oblong, 2-celled;
calyx 0; ovary 1-celled, 1-ovulecl, with 3 to 5 stigmas; fruit a fleshy, valveless utricle; seed vertical. - A marsh herb, with alternate, petiolate, entire, smooth lvs. and small, green, subpedicillate fls. in slender, axillary and terminal spikes.
A. cannabina L. - Salt marshes, brackish swamps, Can. to Ga. and La. St. tall, 3 to 6 to 8f, thick, subterete. Lvs. ovate-lanceolate, 2 to 5 to 8' long, acuminate, wavy, cuneate at base, petiole 1 to 2' long. Fruit panicle loose. Bracts $ lance-ovate, shorter than the calyx, linear-subulate, very unequal. Fr. near 2" long. Jl. - Oct.
5. MONTE'LIA, Moq. Flowers, bracts, stamens, inflorescence, nearly as in Aenida. Stigmas 3, very long, bristle-shaped, feathery; fruit a thin utricle, with a tortuous circumscissile dehiscence. - Herb glab rous, with long-petioled lvs. and small, greenish, spicate fls.
M. taniariscina Gray. - Damp sandy soils or shores, W. States, rare in N. Eng-St flowering at all heights from 1 to 5f, angular, branched, lvs. lance oval, 1 to 5' by 6 to 15", petiole as long. Spikes interrupted and leafy at base, continuous above. Bracts acute, shorter than the calyx, rigid, subulate, longer than the ovary which in fruit opens by a tortuous line. Seed dark brown,' polished. Jl. - Sept. (A. ruscocarpa and altissima Mx. A. Miamensis Ridd.) - Varies with the clusters all axillary, hardly forming spikes.
5. IRESI'NE, Brown. (Gr. an olive-branch bound with tufts of wool borne by supplicants.) Flowers dioecious or , 3-bracted; calyx of 5 erect sepals; stamens 5, anthers 1-cellcd; stigmas 2, 3; utricle roundish ovate, valveless, 1-seeded, included in the calyx; seed vertical. - Herbs with opposite, petiolate lvs. and minute, densely spi-cate or capitate, often woolly fls. suggesting the name.
I. celosioides L. St. erect, furrowed, paniculate above; lvs. scabrous, punctate, lower oblong, acuminate, upper ovate-lanceolate; panicle compound, large, rather dense. - A tall handsome annual, 3 to 4f high, on river banks, Ohio near Cincinnati, to Ill. and La Lvs. tapering to the base into a winged petiole, 3 to 6' by 2 to 4'. Panicle of delicate, whitish fls. large, with opposite branches, branchlets and pedicels, nearly or quite leafless. Sept., Oct.
7. GOMPHRE'NA, L. Globe Amaranth. Flowers perfect or polygamous, 3-bracted; calyx 5-sepaled or 5-cleft, sepals erect; stamens 5, filaments dilated and 3-cleft at apex, middle tooth bearing the 1-celled anther; stigma capitate; utricle valveless, 1-seeded, included in the calyx. Herbs or shrubs of S. America. Lvs. opposite. Fls. usually capitate.
G. globosa L. Erect, trichotomously much branched, pubescent; lvs. short-petiolate, oblong, acute, mucronate, entire; fls. bright purple, in globular, 2-bracted, pedunculate, terminal heads; bracts glabrous, longer than the woolly calyx. - Gardens. Stem 1 to 2f high. Branches suberect Hds. near 1' diam, fadeless, † E. Indies.
8. TELAN'THERA Brown. (Gr. full, complete, Lat. an-therœ; alluding to the perfect flowers.) Fls. perfect, 3-bracted; calyx of 5 sepals; stamens 5, with 5 intervening, elongated, sterile filaments; anthers 1-celled; style short, stigma capitate; utricle valveless, 1-seeded, included in the calyx. - Herbs or shrubs with opposite lvs., axillary and terminal hds. of fls.
T. polygonoides Moq. β. repens. Procumbent, diffusely branched, hairy; lvs. oval, obtuse, attenuate to a winged petiole; hds. sessile, 1 to 2 together, oval, obtuse; fls. whitish silvery; bracts shorter than the ovate-acuminate, mucronate, unequal sepals, inner sep. hairy. - Cultivated grounds, roadsides, in the vicinity of the coast, S. States. Sts. slender, 1 to 2f long. Lvs. including the petiole 6 to 15" by 4 to 7". Hds. 3 to 4" long. Feb. - Oct
9. FRŒLICH'IA, Mœnch. (Named for J. A. Frolich, a German botanist.) Flowers perfect, 3-bracted; calyx tubular, 5-cleft at apex; stamens 5, connate into a tube, appendaged with as many sterile filaments; anthers 1-celled; stigma capitate or tufted; utricle valveless, 1-seeded, enclosed in the hardened calyx which bears 2 or 5 longitudinal crests. - Herbs with jointed, villous stems, opposite lvs. and spicate fls.
P. Floridana Moq. Nearly simple, strictly erect, arachnoid pubescent; lvs. linear, tapering to the base, obtusish at apex; fls. imbricated, in short, dense, clustered, cottony spikes. - On sandy river banks, Ill., also Pla., Ga. to La. Plant 1 to 3f high, with a terminal, virgate panicle 6 to 10' long. Lvs. 1 to 2' by 3 to 5". Spikes 6 to 12" long. Calyx white-scarious, persistent, contracted above, enclosing the utricle. Jl., Aug.
 
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