415 ALSINACEAE 
Petals 5, or rarely fewer or wanting, pink or whitish, entire. Stamens 2 or often 10: 
filaments slender. Ovary 1-celled: styles 3 or rarely 5. Capsule 3-valved to the base, 
the valves alternate with the sepals, rarely 5-valved. Seeds often margined, smooth or 
tuberculate. The plants flower from spring to fall. SAND Spurry. 
Species of sandy banks of the interior: plants scarcely fleshy. 
Corolla much longer than the sepals. 1. T. bracteata. 
Corolla wanting, or of 1-3 minute petals. 2. T. gracilis. 
Species of maritime or saline habitats: plants decidedly fleshy. 3. T. marina. 
1. Tissa bracteata (Robinson) Small. Annual, slender, almost glabrous or viscid- 
pubescent. Stem branched at the base, the branches wire-like, spreading or procumbent, 4-15 
cm. long, forking: leaves fleshy, linear-filiform, 0.5-2 cm. long: pedicels filiform, 4-6 
mm. long : sepals ovate, about 2-3 mm. long, obtuse, hyaline-margined : corolla pink or 
whitish, 4.5-6.5 mm. broad: stamens usually 2 or 3: capsules ovoid, slightly longer than 
the sepals : seeds usually roughened, 0.5 mm. broad. [Spergularia salsuginea var. bracteata 
Robinson. ] 
In sandy soil, Texas. Also from Washington to California. 
2. Tissa gracilis (S. Wats.) Britton. Annual, slender, glabrous. Stem diffusely 
branched at the base, the branches erect or spreading, 4-15 em. long, forking: leaves fili- 
form, 3-10 mm. long, acute; stipules deltoid: pedicels 4-7 mm. long: sepals ovate or 
elliptic-ovate, 1.5-2 mm. long, obtuse, hyaline-margined : corolla 2-2.5 mm. broad : petals 
surpassing the sepals: capsules ovoid, 4~} longer than the sepals: seeds 0.4 mm. thick, 
minutely roughened. 
In sandy soil, Texas and southern California. 
3. Tissa marina (L.) Britton. Annual or biennial, stoutish, glabrous or pubescent. 
Stem branched at the base, the branches decumbent, 1-2 dm. long, forking: leaves fleshy, 
linear, 1~3 cm. long, sometimes fascicled ; stipules ovate: pedicels slender, 0.5-1.5 cm. 
long : sepals ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 4-6 mm. long, obtuse, hyaline-margined : corolla 
pink or reddish, 2-4 mm. broad: capsules ovoid, slightly longer than the sepals or some- 
times twice as long: seeds smooth or minutely roughened, each with a broad wing. 
In sandy soil along the coast, New Brunswick to Floridaand Texas. Also in saline soil in the 
interior and on the Pacific coast. 
4. SPÉRGULA L. 
Diffuse annual herbs, with somewhat succulent tissues. Leaves numerous, often 
apparently whorled and commonly clustered, thick, narrow, with stipules. Flowers in 
terminal cymes. Sepals 5, persistent. Petals 5, white, surpassing the sepals. Stamens 
10, or rarely 5: filaments very short. Ovary 1-celled: styles 5. Capsule 5-valved, often 
surpassing the calyx, the valves opposite the sepals. Spurry. CORN SPURRY. 
1. Spergulaarvénsis L. Foliage glabrous or pubescent. Stems more or less diffusely 
branched at the base, the branches usually simple below the wide-spreading terminal 
dichotomous cyme: leaves clustered, apparently whorled, linear-filiform, 1-3 cm. long: 
pedicels filiform, often deflexed in fruit: sepals oblong or oblong-ovate, 3.5-5 mm. long, 
obtuse : petals equalling or slightly surpassing the sepals: capsules globose-ovoid, 6-7 mm. 
long, surpassing the sepals: seeds slightly over 1 mm. broad, minutely roughened, nar- 
rowly winged. 
In fields and waste places, throughout eastern North America. Naturalized from Europe. Summer. 
5. POLYCARPON L. 
Low annual herbs, with branching stems. Leaves opposite or four in a whorl : blades 
flat. Flowers inconspicuous, in more or less compound cymes. Sepals 5, entire, keeled, 
scarious-margined. Petals 5, shorter than the sepals, sometimes emarginate. Stamens 
3-5: filaments short. Ovary 1-celled: styles 2-3. Capsule 3-valved, often surpassed by 
the calyx. Seeds several, with the embryo merely curved. 
1. Polycarpon tetraphyllum L. f. Foliage glabrous. Stems usually much 
branched at the base, the branches forking, 2-12 cm. long: leaves spatulate to oval, 0.5- 
1.5 cm. long, obtuse or acutish, in whorls of 4 below, opposite above: pedicels 1-3 mm. 
long: sepals less than 1.5 mm. long, hooded, the keel prolonged into a tip: petals shorter 
than the sepals, emarginate : capsules broadly ovoid, much shorter than the sepals: seeds 
0.4 mm. long. 
In waste places and woods, South Carolina to Alabama, and in California. Also widely distrib- 
uted in other parts of the world. Spring to fall. 
