nesæa

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of polypetalons plants of the order Lythrarieæ and the tribe Lythreæ, known by the three-to six-celled capsule wholly concealed within the calyx. There are 27 species, leafy erect herbs or shrubs, with four-angled branches and purplish or bluish flowers, natives of warmer Asia, Africa, Australia, and America, with one, N. verticillata, in the United states, a conspicuous inhabitant of shallow waters, with opposite or whorled leaves and long arching tufted stems, enormously thickened below, with remarkable white spongy and floccose tissue (aërenchyma). This species is called swamp-loosestrife. See hanchinol and Heimia.