Hydrophyllaceae
E. NASIR
National Herbarium, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad.
Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves radical or cauline, alternate or opposite, entire or pinnately lobed, exstipulate. Inflorescence cymose or terminal racemes. Flowers hypogynous, hermaphrodite, pentamerous. Sepals united at the base, imbricate. Corolla gamopetalous, rotate, campanulate or funnel-shaped. Stamens epipetalous, often with appendages. Carpels 2, united; ovary 1- or 2-celled with parietal placentation when unilocular and axile when bilocular; ovules many; styles 1 or 2. Fruit capsular.
A small family of about 18 genera. Nemophila and Phacelia are commonly cultivated as garden annuals. One wild genus, Hydrolea, is found in Pakistan.
Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the United States Department of Agriculture for financing this research under P.L. 480 and to Mr. I.C. Hedge, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, for going through the manuscript.
