422 ALSINACEAE 
b. Leaf-blades, at least those of the upper leaves, sessile. 
Seeds smooth. 4. A. longifolia. 
Seeds rough. 
Sepals obtuse: petals longer than the sepals. 5. A. pubera. 
Sepals acute or acuminate: petals about as long as the sepals. 6. A. Tennesseensis. 
B. Corolla wanting. 7. A. fontinalis. 
1. Alsine aquatica (L.) Britton. Perennial, stout. Stem erect or ascending, 2-6 dm. 
tall, angled, forking above, usually villous and more or less glandular above : leaves few ; 
blades ovate or oblong-ovate, sometimes ovate-lanceolate, 3-6 mm. long, acute or acuminate 
at the apex, truncate or cordate at the base, the upper ones sessile, the lower ones petioled : 
pedicels 2-3 cm. long, glandular-pilose like the calyx : sepals ovate, 4-5 mm. long, obtuse, 
scarious-margined : petals 13-2 times as long as the sepals, 2-cleft, the segments linear: 
capsules slightly longer than the sepals : seeds tuberculate. 
In woods and waste places, Ontario and British Columbia, and in the eastern states to Pennsyl- 
vania and Louisiana. Spring and summer. 
2. Alsine média L. Annual or sometimes perennial, glabrous or nearly so. Stem 
much branched, prostrate, sometimes creeping, 1-3 dm. long, forking: leaves opposite; 
blades ovate, 0.5-2 cm. long, acute; petioles longer than the blades or shorter : flowers 
slender-pedicelled : sepals oblong-lanceolate, 3-4 mm. long, rather obtuse : petals shorter 
than the sepals, 2-parted nearly to the base, the segments linear-oblong, obtuse: stamens 
shorter than the petals: capsules elliptic or oval, about as long as the sepals : seeds flattened, 
about 1 mm. broad. 
In all situations throughout North America, except the extreme north, mainly naturalized from 
Europe. Almost universally distributed. Throughout the year. CHICKWEED. 
3. Alsine Baldwínii Small. . Annual, slender, pubescent or nearly glabrous. 
Stem diffusely branched, the branches prostrate, 1-6 dm. long, forking : leaves usually 
numerous ; blades ovate, semetimes as broad as long, 0.5-2 em. long, acute or acuminate, 
truncate or cordate ; petioles longer than the blades except those of the upper leaves: pedi- 
cels filiform, 1-3 em. long : sepals ovate, 2-3 mm. long: petals about twice as long as the 
sepals: capsules ovoid, surpassing the sepals: seeds 1 mm. long, minutely tuberculate, 
especially on the edges. [Stellaria prostrata Baldw., not Alsine prostrata Forsk. ] 
In moist and shaded soil and rocky woods, Georgia to Texas and Florida. Alsoin Mexico. Spring. 
4. Alsine longifólia ( Muhl.) Britton. Annual or perennial, glabrous or nearly so. 
Stem commonly simple below the inflorescence, 1.5-4.5 dm. long, erect or reclining, some- 
times rough-angled : leaves relatively few ; blades narrowly linear to narrowly linear-lan- 
ceolate, 1.5-7 em. long, or often reduced to scales at the base of the stem: cymes becoming 
widely branched: sepals lanceolate, about 3 mm. long, acute, 3-nerved: petals as long as 
the sepals or somewhat longer: capsules oblong-ovoid, about twice as long as the sepals : 
seeds smooth and shining. 
_ In swamps and low meadows, Nova Scotia to Alaska, Maryland, Louisiana, the Rocky Mountain 
region and British Columbia. Spring and summer. 
5. Alsine pübera (Michx. ) Britton. Perennial, sparingly pilose or glabrate. Stem 
more ox less diffusely branched at the base, the branches erect or decumbent, 1-3 dm. 
long, forking, accompanied later in the season by long sterile shoots bearing large leaves: 
leaf-blades ovate, oblong or elliptic, or the lower ones sometimes spatulate, 1-4 cm. long, 
or those on shoots 5-10 cm. long, obtuse or acute, usually ciliate, sessile or nearly so: 
pedicels 1-3 cm. long: sepals ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 5-7 mm. long, obtuse: petals 
slightly longer than the sepals, cleft to the middle or nearly to the base, the segments acut- 
ish: capsules globose-ovoid, 3-4 mm. long, much shorter than the sepals: seeds nearly 1.5 
mm. long. 
In woods, Pennsylvania to Indiana, middle Georgia and Alabama. Spring. 
6. Alsine Tennesseénsis (Mohr) Small. Perennial, bright green. Stem more or less 
branched at the base, the branches tufted, decumbent, 1-3 dm. long, pubescent in liness 
forked, the shoots bearing leaves somewhat larger than those of the main plant: leaf- 
blades ciliate, the lower ones with long petioles, oval or suborbicular, acute or short- 
acuminate, upper leaves short-petioled or sessile, elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, 3-5 
em. long: calyx over 2 cm. broad, long-pedicelled : sepals lanceolate, 1 cm. long, acum!- 
nate, the outer ones fringed with long cilia: petals about as long as the sepals, cleft to 
below the middle: capsules 4-5 mm. long. [A. pubera Tennesseensis Mohr.] 
In rocky woods, Kentucky to Alabama. Spring. 
7. Alsine fontinàlis (Short & Peter) Britton. Annual, glabrous. Stem much 
branched, the branches spreading, 1-3 dm. long, forking : leaves few ; blades linear-spatu- 
late, 0.5-2 cm. long, obtusish, sessile: pedicels solitary, filiform, 1.5-3 cm. long: sepals 
oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 2.5 mm. long, acute, 3-nerved : petals wanting : stamens 4-8 : 
