Herbs or vines (elsewhere also shrubs and trees). Leaves opposite, simple, in ours unlobed; stipules present between the leaves or represented by a line or membrane between the leaf bases. Flowers in ours perfect, regular, ours 5-merous. Sepals free or basally united, valvate or imbricate in bud. Corolla fused, salverform to tubular or campanulate. Stamens epipetalous, usually alternate with the corolla lobes. Ovary superior to partially inferior, in ours free of the calyx, composed of 2 carpels and bilocular. Fruit of our material capsular.

20+ genera and about 600 species from the tropics to the temperate regions; 3 genera and 6 species in TX; 3 genera and 4 species here. This treatment reflects the removal of some genera, including our Polypremum, to the Buddlejaceae

Some, including Gelsemium are ornamental; others are poisonous (Mabberley 1987).

3 species, 2 of the SE. U.S. and 1 of SE. Asia to Malaysia; we may have the 1 species found in TX.

1. G. sempervirens (L.) Jaume St.-Hil. Carolina Jessamine, Yellow Jessamine, Poor Man's Rope, Evening Trumpetflower. Trailing or high-climbing viney shrub, twining left to right; stems slender, wiry, red-brown, smooth. Leaves semievergreen in our area, ovate to lanceolate or elliptic, to 7.5 cm long and 3 cm broad, acute to acuminate, basally rounded to cuneate, glabrous; petioles 2 to 7 mm long; stipules small and deciduous. Flowers fragrant, 5-merous, solitary or in cymose clusters of up to 6 in the axils; pedicels short and with scaly bracts. Sepals free, lanceolate, 3 to 5 mm long, obtuse to subacute; corolla yellow, funnelform, 2.5 to 3.5 cm long, the lobes ca. 7 to 10 mm long, spreading; stamens attached to the lower portion of the flaring tube, anthers oblong, sagittate; style slender, 2-cleft, each arm divided and thus appearing 4-cleft, flowers heterostylic. Capsule elliptic-oblong, with 2 valves and 2 locules, 1.4 to 2 cm long, 0.8 to 1.2 cm broad, flattened perpendicular to the partition, apically rounded and abruptly beaked; seeds many, brown, apically winged, body papillose. Open sandy woods or wood edges in E. TX; reported from Brazos Co. (TAES 48551; H. B. Parks, s.n., Mar. 9, 1946), but this specimen likely from cultivation as Parks frequently omitted mention of cultivation. Possibly present in the wild in E. portions of Grimes, Leon, and Madison Cos. in pine-sweetgum communities. FL to TX, N. to SE. VA, TN, and AR. Feb.-Apr. [Authority frequently given as (L.) Ait. f.].

Cultivated for its deliciously fragrant flowers, this plant has also been used medicinally to treat migraines and neuralgia (Mabberley 1987), but it is toxic. Most poisonings result from its medicinal use, with severe intoxications involving muscular weakness, spasms, or convulsions, but there are cases of children having been poisoned by sucking the nectar from the blossoms (Lampe 1985). Honey made from the blossoms is reported to be toxic (Tull 1987).

Herbaceous perennials. Leaves simple, opposite, united at the base by stipules or a stipular line. Flowers solitary or in 1-sided cymes (sometimes spike-like), 5-merous. Sepals united at the base, calyx lobes slender. Corolla funnelform or salverform, the lobes relatively short. Anthers linear. Style 1, pubescent on the upper portion, jointed near the middle. Capsule bi-lobed and bilocular, splitting into the 2 component carpels at maturity.

About 50 species of tropical and subtropical Amer., with 1 naturalized in the Old World; 3 species in TX; 1 here.

Several species (e.g. S. anthelmia and S. marilandica) are medicinal, having uses as vermifuges. Some (including the medicinal ones) are poisonous (Lampe 1985; Mabberley 1987).

1. S. loganioides (T. & G. ex Endl. & Fenzl) A. DC. Texas Pink-root. Perennial from a group of slender fibrous roots; stems 1 to several from the base, slender, spreading, to ca. 3 dm tall; herbage more or less glabrous. Leaves ovate to elliptic-lanceolate or sometimes obovate or oblanceolate (especially on the lower portion of the stem), thin-textured, (1.5)2.5 to 5 cm long, to 2 cm broad, apically obtuse to acute, basally cuneate, glabrous or the margins and sometimes the nerves slightly scabrous, short-petiolate, well-spaced; stipules very small. Flowers terminal and in the axils of the upper leaves. Sepals linear-subulate, ca. 5 mm long, 1-nerved, margins scabrous-serrulate, apically acute to obtuse; corolla funnelform to salverform, ca. 12 mm long, white, lobes ca. 3 mm long; anthers and style included; stigma capitate. Pedicels elongating in fruit; capsule bi-globose, slightly compressed perpendicular to the septum, 3 to 4 mm long. Wooded slopes and floodplain woods along river courses in S. TX; endemic; in our area known from along the Old River in Burleson Co. May-Aug, ours primarily May. [S. texana (T. & G.) A. DC.; Coelostylis loganioides T. & G. ex Endl. & Fenzl.; C. texana T. & G.].

Annual or perennial herbs. Stems often slightly quadrangular. Herbage glabrous or essentially so. Leaves opposite, entire; stipules between the leaves, small. Inflorescences pedunculate terminal cymes, branched, the branches helicoid (1-sided) cymes. Flowers small, regular, 5-merous. Sepals united only at the base, ovate to elliptic, several-veined. Corolla longer than the calyx, globose-funnelform or urceolate, white or tinged with pink or blue, in ours 1 to 2 mm long. Stamens included. Gynoecium briefly united to the calyx at the base, the 2 carpels united for 1/2 or more their lengths, divergent to ascending; styles 2. Capsule exserted, strongly 2-horned or miter-shaped, dehiscent along the inner side of each carpel. Seeds many, widely ellipsoid, grooved on one side.

About 6 species of tropical to warm-temperate regions; 2 species in TX, both present here. Texas material was formerly in Cynoctonum; Mitreola is apparently the earliest valid name. This treatment is based, in part, on the work of Nelson (1980).

Ours herbs, elsewhwere mostly trees and shrubs. Leaves usually opposite, entire as in ours or toothed or lobed, stipules usually represented by a line between petiole bases. Flowers variously arranged, perfect or functionally unisexual, usually 4-merous. Sepals united, calyx sometimes parted very deeply. Petals united, corolla usually regular, lobes mostly imbricate. Stamens epipetalous, alternate with the corolla lobes. Gynoecium bilocular, superior to half-inferior, style solitary, terminal, stigma capitate or 2-lobed, ovules many, placentation axile. Fruit usually a septicidal capsule. Seeds sometimes winged.

About 10 genera and 150 species; 3 genera and 7 species in TX; 1 species here.

These plants have often been treated as part of the Loganiaceae.

A monotypic genus.

1. P. procumbens L. Polyprim, Polly-prim, Juniperleaf. Taprooted perennial herb to ca. 3 dm tall; stems several to many from the base, well-branched, radially ascending or repent, ribbed; herbage more or less scabrous. Leaves linear-subulate, 1 to 2.5(3) cm long, 0.5 to 2(2.5) mm broad, acute, ascending to widely spreading, each pair connected at the base by an inconspicuous stipular line. Flowers solitary, terminal and in the axils of the leaves, 4-merous, sessile, or with pedicels less than 0.5 mm long. Calyx with a broad, scarious-margined base, lobes lance-subulate, ca. 2 to 3 mm long, dorsally keeled; corolla white, essentially rotate, about as long as the sepals, bearded in the throat, lobed ca. 1/3 its length, lobes suborbicular, ca. 1 mm long; stamens short, included, anthers globose; style 1, short, stigma entire, ovoid. Capsule ovoid, 1.5 to 2.5 mm long, slightly flattened and notched apically, 2-celled and 2-valvedl; seeds many, yellow, more or less square in outline, with microscopic pits. Usually in sandy soil of fields, roadsides, dunes, pastures, openings in woods, etc. E. 2/3 TX; FL to TX, N. to NY, NJ, E. PA, and SE. MO; S. to Colombia and the W. Indies. Apr.-Nov.

Some studies place Polypremum in or near the Scrophulariaceae (see Zomlefer 1994).

Ours annual or perennial herbs (elsewhere also sometimes woody). Leaves opposite, whorled, or rarely alternate, simple, sessile to petiolate, estipulate, ours commonly glabrous or nearly so. Flowers solitary or in cymose or corymbose inflorescences, terminal and/or axillary, perfect, regular, 4- to 12-merous. Sepals usually united at least briefly, in ours persistent. Petals more or less united, corolla tubular or salverform to campanulate or rotate, often with nectary scales or pits within. Stamens epipetalous, as many as the corolla lobes and alternate with them. Ovary superior, bicarpellate, unilocular (or bilocular through intrusion of the parietal placentae toward the middle), style 1, elongate to obsolete, stigma usually relatively large, entire to bifid. Fruit in ours a 2-valved, septicidal, usually unilocular capsule with many seeds.

74 genera and about 1,200 species worldwide, especially common in temperate and subtropical regions and the montane tropics; 8 genera and 22 species in TX; 3 genera and 3 species here, with 1 more perhaps to be looked for.

The family includes many ornamentals, especially in Gentiana, Exacum, and Sabatia. Some taxa have medicinal uses (Mabberley 1987).

Annual or short-lived perennial from a taproot, usually with a basal rosette. Stems erect or ascending, leafy, herbage more or less glaucous. Leaves sessile, clasping, entire. Flowers usually 5-merous (occasionally 4-merous), showy, long-pedicelled, solitary or in cymose panicles. Calyx lobes elongate, keeled. Corolla campanulate, the lobes convolute in bud and erect in flower, apically entire to erose or apiculate, nectary glands or appendages none. Stamens inserted on the corolla throat, anthers oblong, versatile, strongly or slightly recurved in age. Style slender, semi-persistent, stigma conspicuously 2-lobed. Capsule ellipsoid, 2-valved and many-seeded.

A genus of 3 species of the S. U.S. to N. S. Amer.; 2 in TX; 1 here. Kartesz (1998) combines the two N. American species.

1. E. grandiflorum (Raf.) Shinners(=Eustoma exaltatum (L.) Salisb. ex G. Don subsp. russellianum (Hook.) Kartesz, comb. nov. ined.) Showy Prairie-gentian, Bluebells, Lira de San Pedro. Annual or short-lived perennial; stems 1 to several from the base, erect, 25 to 70 cm tall; internodes 1.4 to 6 cm long. Leaves elliptic-oblong to elliptic-lanceolate, lanceolate, lance-ovate or sometimes ovate, 3-veined, 1.5 to 8 cm long, 0.3 to 5 cm broad, glaucous. Inflorescence cymose-paniculate, flowers 2 to 6 per cluster; pedicels to 6 cm long. Calyx lobes linear-lanceolate or subulate, 1.2 to 2.3 cm long, 2 to 3 mm broad; corolla very showy, generally blue-purple, occasionally pink or whitish, often with a darker eye, deeply lobed, lobes elliptic-obovate, 3 to 5 cm long, 1.5 to 2.4 cm broad (3 or more times as long as the calyx), apically rounded to truncate, commonly apiculate and very slightly erose; anthers 4 to 5.5 mm long, recurved in age, filaments 10 to 15 mm long; style about as long as the ovary, stigma massive, 2-lobed, the lobes ca. 5 mm long. Capsule to 2 cm long. Moist areas of prairies and fields and around stock tanks and ponds. Throughout much of TX but sadly much less common in our area now than formerly; SW. SD, NE, and E. CO, S. to TX and Mex. June-Sept. [E. russellianum with the authority given variously as (Hook.) Sweet, (L.) Griseb., or (Hook.) G. Don--the latter is used by Kartesz (1998)].

Names have been given to the various color forms: f. grandiflorum (typical blue-purple), f. fisheri (Standl.) Shinners (white), f. bicolor (Standl.) Shinners (white with a purple tinge on the lobes, f. roseum (Standl.) Shinners (pink), and f. flaviflorum (Cockll.) Shinners (yellow).

Often cultivated for the very showy blossoms which last several days as a cut flower. Often sold under the name Lisianthus and offered in various colors. This plant was popularized about the time it became scarce in parts of its range; it is possible that plants and seeds were over-collected from the wild rather than purchased.

Annual herbs, generally low and well-branched but sometimes tall and showy (not ours). Herbage in TX material glabrous. Flowers 4- or 5-merous. Calyx deeply lobed, the lobes narrow and appressed to the corolla tube; corolla salverform or funnelform the tube slender and the limb 4- or 5-lobed, pink (as ours) or white. Stamens inserted on the corolla throat, anthers exserted, spirally twisting after dehiscence. Style 1, slender, stigma capitate or lobed. Capsule fusiform to oblong-ovoid. Seeds small.

30 species of the N. hemisphere; 4 in TX; 1 here.

Some are cultivated for ornament (Mabberley 1987).

1. C. texense (Griseb.) Fern. Lady Bird's Centaury. Stem erect, simple below and often corymbosely branched above, 1 to 3 dm tall. Cauline leaves linear to linear-lanceolate or linear-oblanceolate, 5 to 30 mm long, to 4 mm broad, reduced upwards and the uppermost only subulate bracts. Pedicels 5 to 12 mm long, about as long as the calyx; flowers pink. Calyx 8 to 10 mm long, the lobes 7 to 9 mm long; corolla tube 9 to 11 mm long, about twice as long as the lobes, lobes linear-oblong to oblong-elliptic, 3 to 7 mm long, to 1.5 mm broad. Seeds light brown. Usually in dry calcareous soils of hillsides and barrens, also sometimes in depressions on granite; Ed. Plat. and Blackland Prairies; in our area known from calcareous sandstone in Grimes Co. and (oddly) collected once along the Highway 6 bypass E. of Bryan; MO and TX. Jun.-Aug. [Erythraea texensis Griseb.].

The common name honors former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, founder of the National Wildflower Research Center and long-time lover of Texas wildflowers.

Annual or perennial herbs. Stems erect. Herbage glabrous. Leaves opposite and in some species also basal. Inflorescence terminal, cymose. Flowers 4- to 12-merous, ours usually 5-merous, usually pink (rarely white), often with a paler eye and/or star in the center. Sepals basally united, calyx lobes slender, longer than the tube. Corolla rotate. Stamens epipetalous, inserted on the upper rim of the corolla tube, alternate with the lobes, filaments slender, anthers bright yellow, coiled after dehiscence. Style 1, slender, stigma bifid. Capsule ovoid to cylindric. Seeds many.

17 species of N. Amer. and the W. Indies; 7 in TX; 1 here with one more to be looked for.

The flowers are generally showy and some species are cultivated for ornament (Mabberley 1987).

1. S. campestris Nutt. Prairie Rose-gentian. Annual; stems slender, unwinged but somewhat 4-angled, erect, 1 to 3.5(5) dm tall, usually simple in the lower half and if branched above, the branches 1 per node and simple, internodes 1 to 4.4 cm long. Leaves ovate to lance-ovate, ovate-elliptic, or oblong-elliptic, 0.8 to 2.5(4.5) cm long, 0.5 to 1.2(2) cm broad, with 1 or 3 strong nerves rom the base, apically generally acute, base rounded, clasping, and sessile. Inflorescences loose cymose clusters forming a somewhat corymbose arrangement; flowers generally 5-merous (occasional aberrant individuals 4- or 6-merous), subtly fragrant. Calyx tube to 8 mm long, pentagonal, the lateral nerves well-developed and usually with thin, narrow wings that extend to the sinuses between the lobes, lobes linear to lanceolate, 1 to 2.8 cm long, longer than the tube, longer or shorter than the corolla lobes; corolla tube 2/3 or more enclosed by the calyx, lobes broadly ovate to elliptic or spatulate, 1.2 to 2.3 cm long, 7 to 15 mm broad, obtuse to acute, bright rose-pink with a paler spot basally, flowers often with a white eye and yellow star; stigma lobes greenish, turning yellow with age, 5 to 8 mm long. Capsule to 9 mm long. Common in prairies, fields, roadsides, waste places, etc. in both dry and moist soils. E. 1/2 TX and SW. following the coast; IL S. to MS, W. to IA, KS, OK, and TX. Apr.-July. [S. formosa Buckl.].

NOTE: S. angularis (L.) Pursh occurs in E. TX., including on the Blackland Prairies and Post Oak Savannah. It has not been seen by the author from this area, but ought to be looked for. It can be distinguished by its winged stems and unwinged calyx tube which covers 1/3 or less of the corolla tube; branches are usually 2 per node.

Ours annual or perennial herbs, vines, or shrubs (elsewhere also trees), commonly with milky sap. Leaves evergreen or deciduous, opposite, alternate, or sometimes whorled, simple, entire, often revolute; stipules inconspicuous or lacking. Flowers solitary and axillary or in racemes or corymbose or thyrse-like cymes, perfect, regular, ours 5-merous except for the gynoecium. Sepals united, if only briefly, calyx lobes usually imbricate, sometimes with glands or appendages within. Corolla fused, varying in shape from salverform or tubular to urceolate or campanulate, sometimes with appendages in the throat, lobes imbricate or convolute in bud. Stamens epipetalous, alternate with the corolla lobes, anthers introrse, sagittate, sometimes sticky and lightly adhering to the stigma. Nectary glands sometimes present subtending the gynoecium. Gynoecium superior, in ours of 2 unilocular carpels with axile placentation, free below and united only above by the style; stigma usually relatively large, variously shaped. Fruit 2 (or 1 by abortion) cylindrical to fusiform follicles, each few- to many-seeded. Seeds glabrous or with a coma.

A large, diverse family of 215 genera and 2,100 species, primarily tropical but a few temperate; 8 genera and 21 species in TX; 6 genera and 9 species here. Though old, the treatment of Woodson (1938) is useful for descriptions and distribution information.

Sometimes treated to include the Asclepiadaceae, with which it shares many features. Thorne takes this view of the two families--(for a presentation, see Zomlefer (1994).

Many species are poisonous and/or have medicinal properties, e.g. species of Ravolfia (source of reserpine) and Catharanthus (source of several promising anti-leukemia drugs). Many genera include ornamentals, notably Allamanda, Nerium, Plumeria, and Vinca (Mabberley, 1987).

Perennial herb from a woody, erect or creeping rootstock. Leaves alternate or crowded enough to appear verticillate, linear to lanceolate or broadly elliptic, petiolate to sessile, margin often revolute. Inflorescences terminal or occasionally lateral thyrsiform cymes with several to many flowers, dense to pen, often not much surpassed by the leaves, flowers held erect to drooping; bracts inconspicuous. Sepals united in the basal 1/5 to 1/3, calyx lobes more or less equal, without appendages. Corolla salverform, blue, orifice of tube constricted in some species but open in ours and the tube enlarged at the point of stamen attachment, orifice densely pilose and the corolla retrorsely pubescent within, glabrous to pubescent externally, lobes spreading to erect, linear to ovate, appendages none. Anthers ovate to triangular, the connective not enlarged, connivent over the stigma, included. Style filiform, stigma depressed-capitate, with a cup-like wing just below the summit; nectary none. Follicles straight to curved, continuous or constricted between the seeds, erect to pendulous. Seeds in 1 row per follicle, ends truncate, coma none.

About 20 species of N. Amer. and Japan; Hatch, et al. (1990) listed 9 species for TX, but Kartesz (1998) merges two of these; 3 species are to be expected in our area. Despite its age, the works of Woodson (1928, 1938) are very useful for characters and species distributions.

Some species have ornamental value (Mabberley 1987). According to Tull (1987), TX plants are poisonous, though they are not listed by the AMA (Lampe 1985).

A quite variable species. According to Woodson (1928), present in our area, but no collections seen from our counties by the author. Two varieties are present in TX.:

var. texana (A. Gray) Coult. Texas Slimpod. Leaves well-spaced, commonly strongly dimorphic, the upper oblong-lanceolate to elliptic, much narrower than the lower, which are elliptic-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 2 to 6 cm long, 0.3 to 1.7 cm broad, shiny above, dull below. [A. texana (Gray) Heller].

var. filifolia Woods. Leaves crowded, subverticillate, linear-lanceolate to filiform, 2 to 5 cm long, 0.5 to 4 mm broad. [A. ciliata Walt. var. tenuifolia (Raf.) Woods., and listed as such by Kartesz (1998)].

Kartesz (1998) lists also for TX a var. tabernaemontana (A. glaberrima Woods. of Hatch, et al [1990]). This variety (or species) has an entirely glabrous corolla. It is found in extreme SE. TX and is not expected in our area.

NOTE: A. tabernaemontana, A. illustris, and A. repens (the latter apparently not present in our area) are very closely allied. Some TX. material is not readily referable to a particular species. Characters of pubescence, traditionally used to separate the species, are not always definitive and the complex could benefit from intensive study.

See NOTE at A. tabernaemontana, above.

20 species, most in the E. hemis. from India to Japan; 1 in the SE. U.S. and present here.

Some are cultivated for ornament. In TX, T. asiaticum and T. jasminoides are especially common, both used as ground covers. These two have shiny ovate leaves and white flowers. Neither is known to escape in our area.

1. T. difforme (Walt.) Gray American Star Jasmine, Climbing Dogbane, Climbing Star Jasmine. Deciduous woody twining vine or herbaceous perennial; stems reddish; herbage glabrous to puberulent. Leaves opposite, petiolate or nearly sessile, blades quite variable in shape, elliptic to obovate-elliptic, lanceolate, ovate, or occasionally even suborbicular, sometimes heterophyllous and variable on any one plant, ca. 4 to 12 cm long, 1 to 7.5 cm broad, acuminate (sometimes abruptly so) to apiculate, basally cuneate to rounded; stipules tiny. Inflorescences in alternate axils or sometimes appearing terminal, thyrsiform or corymbose, flowers usually many, relatively small; pedicels 4 to 7 mm long. Calyx lobed nearly to the base, lobes ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 3 to 4 mm long, more than twice as long as the tube, the tips sparsely barbellate; corolla salverform or slightly funnelform, pale yellow (or greenish), the tube 5.5 to 6.5 mm long, ca. 1 mm broad at the base and slightly expanded above, the 5 lobes oblong-obovate, 3 to 4 mm long, spreading, convolute in bud; stamens and stigma included, stamens inserted halfway down the corolla tube, filaments short, anthers connivent and more or less stuck together around the stigma, connectives enlarged, narrowly 2-lobed; style elongate, stigma fusiform; gynoecium subtended by 5 free or more or less coalescent nectary glands. Follicles paired, slender, terete, sometimes slightly constricted between the many seeds, 10 to 23 cm long, glabrous; seeds truncate, comose. On shrubs and trees along streams and wood edges and in weedy areas. E. TX; in our area usually in dense bottomlands and not often collected; DE to FL and TX, W. to IL, IN, MO, and OK. Apr.-June.

2 species from the Mediterranean to Japan; 1 cultivated and sometimes persisting in parts of TX.

Members of this genus are deadly poisonous--see notes following our species.

1. N. oleander L. Common Oleander, Laurel Rosa, Rose Bay. In our area a shrub to ca. 6 m, commonly dying to the ground in severe freezes; stems usually several to many from the base and the form more or less globose; herbage essentially glabrous; sap not usually milky. Leaves opposite or many of them in whorls of 3 or 4, short-petiolate, coriaceous, oblong-lanceolate, to 30 cm long and 3.5 cm wide, the pinnate venation very strong and even, upper surface very shiny. Inflorescence more or less corymbose, the flowers white rose, red, or yellow, in some cultivars "double" (with 10 petals). Calyx lobes lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 4 to 6 mm long, acuminate, somewhat leaf-like; corolla funnelform, glabrous externally, the tube 8 to 12 mm long, ca. 1.5 mm broad at the base, expanded above into a conic-campanulate throat 9 to 10 mm long and ca. 7 mm broad at the orifice, commonly with 5 laciniate-dentate scales; lobes more or less obovate to obovate-oblong, 2 to 3.5 cm long, spreading; stamens borne about the middle of the tube, anthers lobed basally and awned apically, connivent above and loosely cohering to the stigma. Follicles 2 (or 1 by abortion), brown, rather sturdy, 8 to 15 cm long; seeds many, flattened, puberulent, apically comose. Native to the Medit. and E. Asia; cultivated for ornament; sometimes shortly persisting in old landscapes but not (as far as is known) naturalizing in our area.

All parts of this plant are extremely toxic--one leaf can be enough to kill an adult, and even water in which the flowers have been placed is toxic. The toxic principles are cardioactive glycosides similar to digitalis (Lampe 1985). The smoke from burning wood is also potentially toxic, and there are reports (possibly anecdotal) of children being poisoned from using the branches as hotdog roasting sticks.

Perennial herbs or subshrubs. Stems erect to trailing. Leaves opposite. Flowers solitary in the axils of alternate leaves, 5-merous except for the gynoecium. Calyx lobes narrow, without appendages. Corolla funnelform or salverform, the tube cylindrical, throat hairy or thickened, appendages none, lobes twisted to the left, in ours blue-purple or white. Stamens inserted on the corolla, not connivent, anthers with the connective prolonged into an apical appendage. Gynoecium subtended by 2 nectaries nearly equal in size to the carpels at anthesis. Follicles terete, slender, many-seeded. Seeds slightly flattened, without a coma.

7 species of Eur. to N. Afr. and Cen. Asia; 2 species cultivated for ornament and sometimes persistent.

Some are used medicinally in their native regions (Mabberley 1987).

Herbaceous perennials from rhizomes. Stems erect to ascending, commonly dichotomously branched. Leaves opposite or occasionally whorled, sessile to petiolate, variously shaped, sometimes mucronate, margin often revolute; stipules small, inconspicuous. Inflorescences terminal and axillary corymbose cymes, the floral bracts small to rather leafy; flowers (in ours) small and pale. Sepals united in the basal 1/3 to 2/3, without appendages. Corolla cylindrical to campanulate or urceolate, the tube relatively short, limb with 5 equal, spreading to reflexed lobes that are twisted to the right, each lobe with a triangular appendage at the base. Anthers narrowly triangular, fertile only in the upper 2/3, connivent above the stigma and lightly adhering to it; connective enlarged, 2-lobed, filaments flattened, apically enlarged, villous. Style short, clavate, stigma conical or ovoid-fusiform; gynoecium subtended by 5 free, ovoid nectaries alternate with the stamens. Follicles separate or stuck together at the tips, spreading to pendulous, terete. Seeds many, truncate, slender-fusiform, overlapping, with a coma.

7 species of the temperate Americas; 4 listed for TX by Hatch, et al. (1990); 3 listed by Kartesz (1998); 1 here.

1. A. cannabinum L. Indian Hemp Dogbane, Prairie Dogbane. Stems from a stout rhizome or rootstock, 2 to 10 dm tall; herbage variously glabrous to pubescent or villous, often glaucous; branches ascending to spreading, mainly in the upper 1/2 of the plant, alternate or opposite. Leaves mostly opposite, short-petiolate to sessile, ascending or slightly spreading, blades ovate to oblong-elliptic or lanceolate, 1.5 to 14 cm long, 0.3 to 4.5(7) cm broad, rounded to acute and usually apiculate apically, acute to cordate basally, generally glabrous above, glabrous to pilosulous or villous below and sometimes glaucous. Cymes usually dense, terminal; floral bracts linear to lanceolate, scarious, from inconspicuous to rather leafy and obvious, often early deciduous; flowers erect to drooping, white to greenish. Calyx lobes lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate or linear, 1.2 to 3(3.5) mm long, about as long as the corolla tube, glabrous; corolla urceolate to narrowly campanulate or short-cylindrical, 2.6 to 4.7 mm long, 1.5 to 3 mm broad at the apex, lobes ca. 1/3 to 1/2 as long as the tube, erect or slightly spreading. Follicles widely spreading to pendulous at maturity, sometimes coherent at the tips, straight to curved, 7 to 19(22) cm long, glabrous; seeds 3 to 6 mm long, coma (1.3)1.6 to 3.7 cm long, white to tawny. Moist or wet sandy or clay soils of bogs, ditches, stream courses, and along rivers, or sometimes open woods or fields. E., Cen., and N. Cen. TX; Can. and ME to WA, S. to FL, TX, and AZ; also N. Mex. Apr.-Aug. [Includes var. glaberrimum A. DC., var. cannabinum, and var. pubescens (R. Br.) A. DC.; A. pubescens R. Br. var. hypericifolium (Ait.) A. Gray; A. sibiricum Jacq. and its var. cordigerum (Greene) Fern. and var. salignum (Greene) Fern.; A. cordigerum Greene; A. suksdorfii Greene var. angustifolium (Woot.) Woods. Sometimes separated from A. sibiricum, but in large parts of its range (e.g. the Great Plains), there is complete overlap in "distinguishing" characters (GPFA 1986).

The root of this plant was used medicinally by plains tribes to treat constipation, dropsy, and ague and as en emetic, antisyphilitic, and general tonic. White settlers in the NW. U.S. learned of it from Native Americans and used it as a diuretic, cathartic, febrifuge, and purgative. It is still used in Appalachia in various remedies. The main chemical constituents are cardiac glycosides which may have anti-tumor properties (Tull 1987; Kindscher 1992). The plant is actually toxic to humans and animals, but because it is unpalatable, cases of severe poisoning are rare (Kindscher 1992). It is not listed by the A.M.A. as a poisonous plant (Lampe 1985). Woody fibers in the outer stem can be used like hemp for cordage. Mesquakie tribes used them for sewing (Kindscher 1992). The sap has a significant hydrocarbon content and might prove useful in fabricating synthetic rubber or for some other use (Tull 1987).

8 species of the tropics, 7 found only in Madagascar; 1 occasionally self-seeding/escaping from cultivation in Texas.

1. C. roseus (L.) G. Don f. Madagascar Periwinkle, Vinca. Perennial, but cultivated in our area as an annual; stems erect, to 7.5 dm, usually shorter. Leaves opposite, oblong-lanceolate, ca. 2.5 to 5 cm long, shiny. Flowers solitary or 2 to 3 in axillary cymes, 5-merous except for the gynoecium, perfect. Corolla salverform, in shades of pink, rose, red, fuchsia, or white, sometimes with a darker or lighter eye or star in the center, to ca. 4 cm broad, tube ca. 2.5 cm long, throat filled with bristly hairs; anthers sessile in the throat, without terminal appendages; style slender. Follicles to ca. 4 cm long; seeds 15 to 30 or more. Native from Madagascar to India; cultivated as a summer annual (plants are quite heat-tolerant); very occasionally self-sowing outside plantings; not long persisting and usually immediately traceable to cultivation; naturalized elsewhere in the tropics nearly worldwide. Summer. [Vinca rosea L.].

Ours herbaceous perennials, subshrubs, or herbaceous vines; sap milky. Leaves usually opposite, sometimes whorled, occasionally alternate, usually entire, estipulate or the stipules minute and/or deciduous. Inflorescences usually axillary and/or terminal umbellate cymes or sometimes the flowers solitary or paired. Flowers perfect, regular. Sepals 5, usually imbricate, more or less connate at the base (often only briefly), often reflexed. Corolla sympetalous, 5-lobed or -cleft, the tube usually short. A 5-lobed corona or crown often present between the corolla and androecium and adnate to either or both, variously shaped and often nectariferous. Stamens 5, inserted on the corolla tube, usually near the base, in our material the filaments united into a tube around the style, anthers united around and coherent to the stigma, the stamens, style, and stigma together forming the gynostegium; each anther sometimes with a terminal scarious or petaloid membrane) which is an outgrowth of the connective) and/or two lateral, wing-like margins; in ours pollen produced in waxy masses called pollinia, the pollinia from adjacent half-anthers of separate stamens connected via translator arms joined to central gland or corpusculum. Gynoecium superior, of two carpels united only by the massive stigma in the gynostegium, stigmatic surface usually reached through the slit formed by the edges of the wing-margins of 2 adjacent anthers. Fruit a pair of follicles, commonly only 1 developing. Seeds many, flattened, usually comose.

347 genera and 2,850 species of the tropics and subtropics (a few are temperate); 5 genera and 59 species in TX; 3 genera and 14 species here.

This is a very large family, closely allied to the Apocynaceae and grouped with it by some taxonomists (e.g. Thorne; see Zomlefer 1994). Many taxa are cultivated for ornament, including species of Asclepias, Hoya, Ceropegia, Stapelia, etc. (Mabberley 1987), with forms ranging from bedding plant to hanging-basket vine to succulent. Most taxa have some sort of very elaborate or complex insect pollination (Mabberley 1987).

Ours perennial herbs, often from an enlarged and more or less woody rootstock, almost always with milky sap. Stems 1 to many, prostrate to erect. Leaves opposite, alternate, whorled, or approximate (nearly opposite), sessile to petiolate, blade variously shaped. Inflorescences in ours terminal or axillary umbellate cymes. Calyx divided almost to the base, of 5 equal lobes, usually reflexed, with few to many minute glandular scales within. Corolla rotate, the lobes reflexed or spreading, sometimes erect, valvate in bud. Corona of 5 fleshy spreading to erect hoods, U-shaped in cross section or tubular, attached to the sessile or stipitate staminal column and subtending the anthers; horns often present, protruding from the hoods, needle-like to falcate or tongue-like, erect or incurved. Anther head more or less pentamerous, short-cylindric to truncate-conic or depressed-spheric; anthers 2-celled, terminal appendage ovate to deltoid, petaloid, lateral margin-wings more or less prominent, corneous (with the texture of thin horn), enclosing the 5 stigmatic chambers; corpusculum narrowly ovate; pollinia pendulous from the translator arms, flattened, asymmetrically spatulate. Follicles 2 or only 1 by abortion, fusiform to ovoid, terete or slightly angled. Seeds many, usually comose, rarely naked.

About 120 species of the W. Hemisph.; a few naturalized in the E. Hemisph.; 36 in TX; 9 in our immediate area. Though rather old, the work of Woodson (1954) is useful for descriptions, diagrams, and distribution information.

The flowers of some are quite showy and several species are commonly grown as ornamentals, e.g. A. curassavica with red and yellow flowers. Some species have medicinal value or produce a usable latex or fibers (Mabberley 1987). Others are the preferred food of butterfly larvae. Some are toxic to livestock, but severe intoxications are rare as they apparently are eaten only if other food is unavailable (GPFA 1986).

Sometimes mistaken for A. asperula (Dcne.) Woods., which is superficially similar but which has narrower, long-acuminate leaves. It is found to the west of our area and apparently does not occur here.

The comas were formerly twisted and used as candle wicks (Ajilvsgi 1984).

The Lakota Sioux made medicines from the pulverized roots and gave it to children for diarrhea. It was also used in a tea believed to stimulate milk production in nursing women (Kindscher 1992).

One glycoside from this plant, amplexoside, has been shown to inhibit cell growth in human cancer (Kindscher 1992).

This species is poisonous to livestock (GPFA 1986; Tull 1987). It was used by the Lakota tribes to stimulate milk production in nursing women (Kindscher 1992).

Hatch, et al. (1990) and the GPFA (1986) recognized 2 subspecies: subsp. interior Woods., with leaf bases deeply cordate [A. tuberosa L. var. interior (Woods.) Shinners and forma lutea (Clute) Steyerm.] and subsp. terminalis Woods. with leaf bases obtuse to truncate. Kartesz (1998) lists the two subspecies combined under subsp. interior. Our plants seem to have leaf bases mostly obtuse to truncate or only slightly cordate. I agree with the GPFA that these subspecific designations are of doubtful utility.

This plant is reportedly poisonous to livestock (GPFA 1986). Plains tribes used the raw root for lung disorders and also to treat wounds or sores. There a ritual associated with its gathering and preparation. Dakota tribespeople used the plant as an emetic (Kindscher 1992). It is also reported to have laxative properties and to be useful for heart trouble (Ajilvsgi 1984). The plant is a good addition to a butterfly garden as it is a favorite nectar source for a variety of species.

Perennial herbaceous twining vines from thick rootstocks; sap milky. Stems few to several. Leaves opposite, petiolate, blades triangular to ovate, entire, base rounded to cordate, usually with a few subulate glands on the midrib; stipules small, subulate, commonly deciduous. Inflorescences usually corymbose or umbellate axillary cymes, few- to many-flowered. Calyx lobes spreading, with linear to triangular glandular scales within, near or at the sinuses. Corolla rotate to short campanulate or funnelform, slightly to strongly spreading, white to dark purple, yellowish, or yellow-green. Corona a fleshy, shallowly lobed disk or cup or (as in ours) composed of 5 petaloid appendages which are apically bilobed. Gynostegium sessile to stipitate. Anther head depressed-spheric to conic; anther apical appendages ovate to suborbicular, petaloid; wings of anther margins strongly to shallowly angled at the base, conspicuous or inconspicuous, corneous (with the texture of thin horn); corpusculum elliptic to linear, red-brown; pollinia spatulate to oblong, nearly terete. Follicle fusiform, terete, smooth.

About 55 species of the tropics and temperate regions; 5 in TX; 1 here.

1. C. laeve (Michx.) Pers. Blue-vine, Sand-vine, Smooth Swallow-wort, Smooth Anglepod. Twining or trailing vine; stems simple or branched, to 3 m long or more, glabrescent or villous in lines. Petioles 1 to 9 cm long; blade triangular-lanceolate to deltoid or broadly ovate, (2)4 to 11 cm long, (1.5)2 to 10 cm broad, base cordate with a deep, wide sinus, the basal lobes rounded and commonly incurved, apex acuminate or acute, sometimes caudate or apiculate, margin minutely revolute, glabrous to sparsely villous or strigose, especially on the nerves; sometimes small, suborbicular leaves present in the axils. Inflorescences few to many, axillary, umbellate to corymbose (sometimes abbreviated racemes); peduncles 0.3 to 5 cm long, usually shorter than the petiole of the subtending leaf; pedicels slender, 3 to 12 mm long, villous; flowers 5 to 8 mm across. Calyx green or tinged with purple, lobes ovate-elliptic or lanceolate to ovate, 1.5 to 3 mm long, puberulent to sparsely villous, margins scarious; corolla rotate, whitish to cream-colored, the lobes narrowly oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 4 to 7 mm long, glabrous; corona petaloid, of 5 free, erect appendages 5 to 6 mm long, almost as long as the corolla lobes, each broadly ovate below and abruptly narrowed in the upper 1/2 into 2 free or somewhat fused linear lobes 1.5 to 2 times as long as the gynostegium; gynostegium stipitate (often only obscurely so); column ca. 0.5 mm tall, anther head conic; flowers dimorphic with regard to column and anther head, either column obconic and visibly distinct from the anther head which is 1.5 to 2 mm tall, 1.8 to 2 mm broad, with anther wings 0.5 to 0.6(0.7) mm long, or column cylindrical and smooth-fitting into the anther head which is 2.5 to 3 mm tall, 2 to 2.5 mm broad, with anther wings 1.5 to 2 mm long; anther apical appendages ca. 1 mm long; corpusculum 0.2 to 0.3 mm long; pollinia ca. 0.4 mm long. Follicles slender fusiform to lanceolate, slightly angled, 8 to 15 cm long, 1.5 to 2(3) cm thick, sparsely puberulent to glabrous; seeds 7 to 9 mm long, obovate, coma 3 to 4 cm long, white. Silty clay or sandy soils of moist low woods or fields, sometimes climbing on fences or shrubs. N. Cen. TX to S. Cen. coast; present in our area, but judging from collections, not as

common now as formerly; PA to NE, S. to GA and TX. June.-Sept. [Gonolobus laevis Michx.; Ampelamus albidus (Nutt.) Britt.; Enslenia albida Nutt.].

Herbaceous perennials or shrubs. Stems few to many from thick rootstocks, simple or branched, prostrate or twining to suberect. Leaves opposite, petiolate, blade cordate to ovate or suborbicular, basally cordate, entire, often with glands on the midrib; stipules none. Inflorescences axillary corymbose to umbellate cymes, or else flowers paired in the axils. Calyx lobes spreading, commonly with subulate to tubular glands on the inner surface, near the base or in the sinuses. Corolla rotate to campanulate, lobes convoluted in bud, slightly to strongly spreading, white to brown, purple, or greenish, often strongly reticulate-veined. Corona disk- or cup-shaped, thin or fleshy, variously lobed, with or without strap-shaped appendages within. Gynostegium sessile or with a short-stipe; anther head discoid, anthers partially hidden under the flattened stigma. Anther apical appendages suborbicular to ovate, petaloid; lateral wings inconspicuous, straight to curved; corpusculum narrowly elliptic to rhombic, red-brown; pollen in oblong to obovate pollinia. Follicles plump, fusiform, smooth or tuberculate, terete to angled. Seeds comose.

About 130 species, primarily in tropical S. Amer.; 13 TX; 4 here.

Ours annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, sometimes vine-like (elsewhere also trees). Leaves alternate or sometimes in fascicles, occasionally in approximate pairs, simple to odd-pinnately compound; stipules none. Inflorescences terminal, subterminal, axillary, opposite the leaves, or on the internodes, the arrangement cymose, paniculate, umbellate, racemose, or sometimes flowers solitary. Flowers perfect, regular or essentially so, 4- to 6-merous, ours usually 5-merous except for the gynoecium. Calyx synsepalous, usually with 5 teeth or lobes, rotate to campanulate or tubular, usually persistent in fruit, sometimes accrescent or inflated at maturity. Corolla sympetalous, rotate to campanulate, tubular, funnelform, or urceolate, the limb with 5 lobes or teeth or sometimes entire, the lobes valvate or imbricate, usually plicate (pleated) in bud. Stamens usually 5, free, inserted on the corolla and alternate with the lobes, sometimes connivent around the style, anthers opening by longitudinal slits or terminal pores. Gynoecium superior, of 2 united carpels; style 1, terminal, stigma entire or 2-lobed, locules 2 or sometimes 4 because of false septa, sometimes lobed; ovules several to many. Fruit with axile placentation, a berry or capsule. Seeds with the embryo lying near the periphery, often curved, endosperm well-developed.

This is a large family with about 90 genera and 12,600 species nearly worldwide; especially common in S. Amer. 18 genera and 78 species in TX; 8 genera and 24 species here.

The family is important for food crops, including potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), eggplant (S. melongena), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. = Lycopersicon esculentum), and peppers (Capsicum spp.). Many species have an alkaloid chemistry, including tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and the poisonous members Hyoscyamus (Henbane), Atropa (Belladonna), Datura (Jimsonweed), and Mandragora (Mandrake). These and others also have medicinal uses. Many taxa are grown as ornamentals, including Brugmansia, Cestrum, Nicotiana, Schizanthus, etc. (Mabberley 1987).

NOTE: In addition to the taxa included in the key below, several others deserve mention:

Solanum capsicastrum Link, False Jerusalem Cherry, is S. Amer. native grown for ornament and occasionally encountered as an escape. See NOTE at Solanum.

Solanum lycopersicum L. (=Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), the cultivated tomato, is sometimes found near old homesites or in dumps, but is not a permanent member of our flora. It has pinnately compound leaves and yellow corollas with recurved lobes.

Bouchetia erecta DC. is found just S. of our area and may someday be found here. It is a low herb with ascending stems, white funnelform flowers ca. 12 to 18 mm long, and capsules. Sheets from our area identified as Bouchetia have proved to be misidentified.

Petunia parviflora Juss. is scattered throughout TX in moist or wet soils of beaches and mudflats, but no specimens from this area have been seen. It is a prostrate herb, rooting at the nodes, with fleshy, spatulate leaves ca. 1 cm long, red-purple funnelform flowers ca. 6 to 7 mm long, and capsules. Cultivated petunias are of hybrid origin and may be found as occasional waifs, but do not persist or escape in our area.

1. Fruit a berry; corolla rotate, campanulate, urceolate, or sometimes funnelform ..................3

Ours annual or perennial herbs with rank-smelling foliage. Stems erect, ascending, or decumbent. Leaves alternate, blades ovate to elliptic, entire to sinuate-pinnatifid, glabrous to variously pubescent. Flowers large, showy, in ours pale, solitary, produced on short pedicels in the forks of the stem, usually erect. Calyx tubular or angled-cylindric, 5-toothed, dehiscent circumscissilely above the base after anthesis, the remaining disk enlarging somewhat and persisting beneath the capsule. Corolla funnelform to tubular, much longer than the calyx, the limb 5- or 10-toothed, convolute-plicate in bud. Stamens 5, equal, anther dehiscence longitudinal. Style about as long as the anthers, stigma capitate, 2-lobed or -lipped; ovary 2-celled or 4-celled because of a false septum. Capsule erect or nodding, dehiscent regularly by 2 or 4 apical valves or else splitting irregularly, the surface usually prickly. Seeds many, flattened.

As treated here without Brugmansia (flowers nodding, some taxa woody), 8 species of S. N. America, but some widely naturalized; 4 listed for TX (Kartesz 1998) with the synonymy somewhat confused; 3 collected locally.

Members of the genus have a powerful alkaloid chemistry. Some were/are used as ritual or sacred hallucinogens by Native Americans (Mabberley 1987). All parts of the plants are potentially poisonous, including the nectar. Most reported poisonings involve the deliberate use of seeds or leaves in an attempt to produce intoxication (Lampe 1985). Some species are cultivated for their showy flowers (Bailey, et al. 1976).

1. Fruiting pedicels erect; capsule regularly dehiscent via 4 valves; corolla 6 to 8 cm long .......

Plants with violet or lavender flowers and violet anthers have been designated var. tatula (L.) Torr. The color difference is the result of a single gene mutation (Mabberley 1987). Some sources feel that distinction at the varietal level is not justified (e.g. GPFA 1986).

The plants contain stramonium, a substance used in the treatment of asthma (Mabberley 1987).

TX to CA and N. Mex. May-Nov. [D. meteloides of TX authors, e.g. DC., but not D. meteloides Dunal; D. metel L. var. quinquecuspida Torr.].

NOTE: Some botanists consider D. wrightii and D. inoxia (below) to be conspecific (see, for example, GPFA 1986). If this proves to be the case, the name D. inoxia has priority.

See NOTE at D. wrightii, above.

Annual or perennial herbs, shrubs, or small trees, usually heavily scented and viscid-pubescent. Leaves alternate, entire to repand or pandurate, sessile or petiolate. Flowers few to many in panicles or racemes. Calyx tubular-campanulate, with 5 teeth or lobes. Corolla funnelform or salverform, the tube usually relatively long, the limb 5-lobed, usually spreading, plicate in bud. Stamens 5, inserted on the corolla. Stigma capitate. Capsule ovoid to slenderly ellipsoid, blunt or acute, 2-celled, dehiscent by 2 or 4 apical valves. Seeds many, tiny.

About 67 species of the Americas, S. Pacific, Australia, and SW. Afr.; 6 in TX; 2 confirmed from our area.

The most important species is N. tabacum which provides smoking and chewing tobacco in all its forms. One of its principal chemical components is nicotine, which is also used as an insecticide (Mabberley 1987). This and a number of other species (including our own N. glauca) are poisonous, having various alkaloid chemistries that act on the nervous system (Lampe 1985). Other species, notably N. alata, are grown as ornamentals for their showy and/or fragrant flowers.

This plant is poisonous, the particular toxin being the alkaloid anabasine. Human fatalities have resulted from ingestion of raw or cooked leaves (Lampe 1985; Tull 1987).

Small shrubs. Stems usually thorny and with short spur shoots. Leaves mostly fascicled, in TX material elongate, entire, sometimes somewhat fleshy. Flowers axillary, solitary or in small clusters. Calyx campanulate, with 4 to 6 regular or irregular teeth or lobes, sometimes somewhat bilabiate. Corolla campanulate, tubular-funnelform or salverform, the limb with 4 to 7 lobes. Stamens 4 or 5. Stigma 2-lobed or capitate. Fruit a dry or fleshy berry, often red, globose to ovoid, subtended by the persistent calyx which commonly splits irregularly as the fruit enlarges.

About 85 to 100 species of warm temperate areas, especially the Americas; 7 species in TX; apparently 1 here.

The berries of some are edible, but the leaves may be toxic, especially to livestock (Correll & Johnston 1970; Lampe 1985).

1. L. carolinianum Walt. var. quadrifidum (Dun.) C. L. Hitchc. Carolina Wolf-berry. Small shrub, sparingly short-branched and only sparingly thorny; stems erect to slightly spreading, to 1 m tall; herbage glabrous; young branchlets with short thorns to 1 cm long, older branchlets silvery, with spinose branchlets. Leaves rather succulent, usually in fascicles of 3 to 10, essentially spatulate, 0.7 to 2.5 cm long, 1 to 2(5) mm broad, apex rounded to acute, tapered to a sessile base, midvein scarcely or not visible. Flowers usually solitary, pedicels to 3 cm long (usually much shorter). Calyx tube 2.5 to 3.5 mm long, lobes 4, 1/3 as long as the tube, 1 to 2 mm long, usually more or less equal, triangular, obtuse, margins sometimes sparsely ciliate; corolla lavender to purple or blue-violet, 7 to 10 mm long, rotate-campanulate, tube 1 to 1.5 mm in diameter at the top of the ovary, 3 to 5 mm in diameter at the orifice, lobes 4 (or 5), spreading, equalling or longer than the tube, 4 to 6 mm long, ovate, abruptly narrowed at the base, apically rounded to slightly emarginate, glabrous; stamens exserted because the lobes spread, equalling or slightly shorter than the corolla lobes, pilose in the lower 1/3 to 1/4 and the corolla tube sparsely hairy nearby, anthers 1 to 1.5 mm long; style about as long as the filaments or a little shorter. Berry red, ovoid, fleshy, 0.8 to 1.5 cm long, ca. 1 cm in diameter, dark purple in old or dry material; seeds 50 or more. Near ponds, ditches, or marshes, on wet clay or salt flats, and in sandy-gravelly soil on brushy hills. Coastal and S. TX; MS to TX and NE. Mex. Jan.-Nov.

Uncommon in our area and included on the basis of two specimens, one of which is not determined with complete confidence. In identifying Lycium specimens, the length of the calyx lobes and their symmetry at anthesis is important, as is the length of the corolla lobes. In fruiting specimens, the calyx often splits and appears somewhat bilabiate so that the original length of the calyx teeth is not evident. Since the genus is poorly known from our area, the reader is referred to Correll and Johnston (1970) for any local material not matching the above description exactly (i.e., with an asymmetrical calyx, 5 or more calyx lobes, or calyx teeth less than 1/3 the length of the tube). L. berlandieri Dun. var. berlandieri would be the taxon most likely to occur here other than L. carolinianum.

Annual or perennial herbs, some from rhizomes. Stems erect to decumbent, usually branched. Leaves alternate or occasionally 2 or 3 together where internodes reduced, petiolate; blades generally ovate to lance-linear, entire to toothed or sinuate, often irregularly so, rarely more deeply lobed. Pubescence of stem and foliage various, from glabrous to sparsely to densely pubescent with simple, jointed, branched, stellate, or glandular hairs or a mixture of any of these. Flowers, in ours, solitary in the axils, pedicellate, usually nodding at anthesis. Calyx campanulate, 5-toothed, small at anthesis and enlarging greatly to enclose the fruit. Corolla campanulate to rotate, often reflexed, shallowly 5-lobed or entire, usually some shade of yellow, often with dark brown or black spots within or these faint or absent, also commonly pubescent within. Stamens 5, inserted near the base of the corolla tube, erect, not connivent around the style, filaments from filiform to about as broad as the anthers, in some taxa clavate, anthers yellow to blue or violet or sometimes edged or tinged with blue or violet. Style slender, stigma scarcely broader. Mature calyx (in fruit) strongly 5-angled or else 10-angled or nearly round, sometimes indented basally, glabrous to pubescent, usually strongly inflated and wholly enclosing the berry. Berry sessile or short-stipitate, dryish to juicy, globose, bilocular, many-seeded. Seeds yellow, glabrous, often minutely pitted.

About 80 species worldwide, especially common in Mex. and Cen. Amer.; 16 known from TX; 9 here. This treatment follows those of Waterfall (1958) and Sullivan (1985).

Some have brightly colored calyces and are cultivated for ornament, often with common names referring to Chinese or Japanese lanterns. The berries of some are edible, particularly those of P. philadelphica and P. pruinosa, known as tomatillos or husk tomatoes (Mabberley 1987). Several species were grown by Native Americans for food (Kindscher 1987). The unripe berries of some taxa, however, contain solanine glycoalkaloids and probably all unripe fruit should be considered potentially poisonous (Lampe, 1985).

NOTE: The key below is only for our immediate 7-county area; material from elsewhere should be referred to the Correll and Johnston (1970) and to Sullivan (1985) for identification and to a recent checklist such as that of Hatch, et al. (1990) for current nomenclature. Confident identification requires flowers at anthesis, mature capsules, and the presence of underground structures (or absolute knowledge of their form). Powerful magnification is needed to examine the pubescence.

1. Plants taprooted annuals; anthers usually violet or blue; flowers ca. 4 to 10(12) mm long; anthers ca. 1 to 2.5 mm long ...................................................................................................2

1. Plants perennial (roots often not collected); anthers yellow or sometimes tinged with blue; flowers (10)12 to 20 mm long; anthers 2 to 4 mm long .........................................................3