TETRAGONIACEAE 411 
nate, glabrous, short-petioled : cymes many-flowered, the divisions copiously pubescent : 
calyx yellow, that of the pistillate flowers with short ovate lobes: fruit club-shaped, 
8-9 mm. long, slender-pedicelled, 10-ridged, with 5 rows of glands from the base to the apex. 
In hammocks, Florida Keys. Also in the West Indies. 
2. Pisonia rotundata Griseb. A shrub or small tree, with very irregular branches, 
unarmed. Leaf-blades oval, broadly obovate or oblong, 2.5-5 cm. long, rounded or retuse 
at the apex, glabrous, rounded or rarely cuneate at the base, short-petioled : cymes many- 
flowered, the divisions glabrous or nearly so: calyx pinkish, that of the pistillate 
flowers with short ovate lobes: fruit club-shaped, 6-7 mm. long, not ridged, with 5 rows 
of glands above the middle. 
In woods, Florida Keys. Also in the West Indies. 
3. Pisonia obtusata Sw. A shrub or small tree, with smooth and glabrous foliage, 
more or less irregular branches, unarmed. Leaf-blades spatulate to oval, 2-4 em. long, 
blunt or notched at the apex, glabrous; petioles slender, relatively long (5-15 mm. ): 
cymes rather few-flowered : calyx pale, that of the pistillate flowers with ovate or lanceolate 
lobes: fruit oblong or elliptic, glandless, about 4-7 mm. long, 10-ribbed at the base. 
In woods, peninsular Florida and the Keys. Also in the West Indies and tropical America. 
4. Pisonia Floridana Britton. A low shrub, with more or less gnarled branches, 
unarmed. Leaf-blades spatulate, 2-3 cm. long, rounded at the apex, copiously pubescent, 
slender-petioled : cymes relatively few-flowered, the divisions finely pubescent : calyx pale, 
that of the pistillate flowers with ovate lobes: fruit narrowly urn-shaped, 6-7 mm. long, 
somewhat constricted under the apex, delicately nerved. 
Among lime rocks, Rock Key, Florida. 
FAMILY 8. TETRAGONIACEAE Reichenb. CARPET-WEED FAMILY. 
Annual or perennial herbs, with a watery sap and usually succulent tissues. 
Stems often branched at the base, the branches radiating, sometimes creeping. 
Leaves mostly opposite or apparently whorled : blades simple. Flowers perfect, 
polygamous or unisexual, regular. Calyx of 4-5 sepals. Corolla wanting (in 
our genera). Androecium of 4-5 hypogynous or perigynous stamens or some- 
times fewer or more numerous. Anthers 2-celled. Gynoecium of 2 or several 
united carpels. Ovary 2-many-celled or 1-celled by suppression, superior, or 
somewhat inferior. Styles or stigmas as many as there are cavities in the ovary. 
Ovules 1 or many. Fruit a circumscissile or loculicidal capsule, or rarely berry- 
like or nut-like. Seeds solitary or many. Endosperm copious. Embryo curved, 
near the surface. 
Ovary superior. 
Hypanthum wanting or nearly so: capsule loculicidal. 
Stamens 3-5 : seeds estrophiolate, with short straight funiculi. 1. MOLLUGO. 
Stamens 5-10: seeds strophiolate, with elongated coiled funiculi. 2. GLINUS. 
Hypanthium manifest, cylindric, turbinate or campanulate: capsule circumscissile. 
Stipules present : ovary 2-celled or 1-celled by suppression. 
Sepals unappendaged : stamens 1-3. 3. CYPSELEA. 
Stipules wanting ovary S.e-celled. SENIUM. 
wanting: ovar elled. 5. SESUVIUM. 
Ovary partly inferior. v 6. TETRAGONIA. 
1. MOLLUGO L. 
Annual herbs, with erect stems or radially spreading branches, and glabrous or 
pubescent foliage. Leaves basal and cauline, alternate or apparently whorled, with hya- 
line stipules. Flowers perfect, in axillary clusters, cymes or racemes, pedicelled, usually 
white. Sepals 5, with hyaline margins, persistent. Disk annular or wanting. Stamens 
3, opposite the angles of the ovary, or 5 and alternate with the sepals: filaments filiform or 
rather subulate. Ovary 3-5-celled, superior: styles 3, distinct: stigmas entire. Capsule 
subglobose or oblong, 3-5-valved. Seeds few or numerous, estrophiolate, with short 
Straight funiculi : aril wanting or inconspicuous. INDIAN CHICKWEED. 
pies 5 e stem-leaves narrowly linear: seeds finely reticulated. 1. M. Cerviana. 
e stem-leaves broadened upward: seeds 3-5-ribbed. 2. M. verticillata. 
1 Mollugo Cerviàna (L. ) Seringe. Foliage glabrous or nearly so. Stems filiform 
or nearly so, 5 20 cm, tall, much branched, terete: leaves glaucous, various; basal in a 
more or less persistent whorl, spatulate ; those of the stem narrowly linear or the upper 
ones reduced to scales: flowers in whorls on the lower part of the stem, in delicate panicles 
above: pedicels capillary: sepals oblong to ovate, fully 1 mm. long at maturity, each 
