Part 130 (2/2)

June--Sept.

ORDER 76. OROBANCHaCEae. (BROOM-RAPE FAMILY.)

_Herbs dest.i.tute of green foliage (root-parasites), monopetalous, didynamous, the ovary one-celled with 2 or 4 parietal placentae; pod very many-seeded; seeds minute, with alb.u.men and a very minute embryo._--Calyx persistent, 4--5-toothed or parted. Corolla tubular, more or less 2-lipped, ringent, persistent and withering; upper lip entire or 2-lobed, the lower 3-lobed. Stamens 4, didynamous, inserted on the tube of the corolla; anthers 2-celled, persistent. Ovary free, ovoid, pointed with a long style; stigma large. Capsule 1-celled, 2-valved; each valve bearing on its face one placenta or a pair. Seeds very numerous, minute.--Low, thick or fleshy herbs, bearing scales in place of leaves, lurid yellowish or brownish throughout. Flowers solitary or spiked.

[*] Flowers of two sorts, scattered along slender panicled branches.

1. Epiphegus. Upper flowers sterile, with a tubular corolla; the lower fertile, with the corolla minute and not expanding. Bracts inconspicuous.

[*][*] Flowers all alike and perfect; sterns mostly simple.

2. Conopholis. Flowers, densely spicate. Calyx deeply cleft in front.

Corolla 2-lipped Stamens exserted.

3. Aphyllon. Flowers pedicellate, sometimes subsessile and thyrsoid-spicate. Calyx regularly 5-cleft. Corolla somewhat 2-lipped.

Stamens included.

4. Orobanche. Flowers sessile, spicate. Calyx cleft before and behind almost to the base. Corolla 2-lipped. Stamens included.

1. EPIPHeGUS, Nutt. BEECH-DROPS. CANCER-ROOT.

Flowers racemose or spiked, scattered on the branches; the upper sterile, with a long tubular corolla and long filaments and style; the lower fertile, with a very short corolla which seldom opens, but is forced off from the base by the growth of the pod; stamens and style very short. Calyx 5-toothed. Stigma capitate, a little 2-lobed. Capsule 2-valved at the apex, with 2 approximate placentae on each valve.--Herbs slender, purplish or yellowish-brown, much branched, with small scattered scales, 6--12' high. (Name from ?p?, _upon_, and f????, _the Beech_, because it grows on the roots of that tree.)

1. E. Virginiana, Bart. Corolla of the upper (sterile) flowers whitish and purple, 6--8” long, curved, 4-toothed.--Common under Beech-trees, parasitic on their roots; N. Brunswick to Wisc., south to Fla. and Ark.

Aug.--Oct.

2. CONoPHOLIS, Wallroth. SQUAW-ROOT. CANCER-ROOT.

Flowers in a thick scaly spike, perfect, with 2 bractlets at the base of the irregularly 4--5-toothed calyx; its tube split down on the lower side. Corolla tubular, swollen at base, strongly 2 lipped; upper lip arched, notched at the summit, the lower shorter, 3-parted, spreading.

Stamens protruded. Stigma depressed. Capsule with 4 placentae, a pair on the middle of each valve.--Upper scales forming bracts to the flowers, regularly imbricate, not unlike those of a fir-cone (whence the name, from ?????, _a cone_, and f????, _a scale_).

1. C. Americana, Wallroth.--Oak woods, growing in cl.u.s.ters among fallen leaves; N. Eng. to Mich., south to Fla. and Tenn. May, June.--A singular plant, chestnut-colored or yellowish throughout, as thick as a man's thumb, 3--6' high, covered with fleshy scales, which become dry and hard.

3. APHLLON, Mitch.e.l.l. NAKED BROOM-RAPE.

Flowers perfect, pedicellate, sometimes subsessile and thyrsoid-spicate.

Calyx 5-cleft, regular. Corolla somewhat 2-lipped; the upper lip more or less spreading and 2-lobed, the lower spreading, 3-lobed. Stamens included. Stigma broadly 2-lipped or crateriform. Capsule with 4 placentae, equidistant or contiguous in pairs. Plants brownish or whitish. Flowers (purplish or yellowish) and naked scapes minutely glandular-p.u.b.escent. (Name from a- privative and f?????, _foliage_, alluding to the naked stalks.)

[*] _Flowers solitary on long naked scapes or peduncles, without bractlets; corolla with a long curved tube and spreading 5-lobed limb._

1. A. uniflrum, Gray. (ONE-FLOWERED CANCER-ROOT.) _Stem subterranean or nearly so, very short_, scaly, often branched, each branch sending up 1--3 slender one-flowered scapes (3--5' high); _divisions of the calyx lance-awl-shaped_, half the length of the corolla, which is 1' long, with 2 yellow bearded folds in the throat, and obovate lobes.--Damp woodlands, Newf. to Va. and Tex., and west to the Pacific. April, May.

<script>