[ *3°9 ] 

 Claytonia alsinoides. Chickweed 

 Claytonia. 

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C/j/} #«J Order. 

 Pentandria Monocynia. 



Generic Char after. 



Cal 2-valvis. Cor. 5-petaIa. £//£ot<2 3-fidum. Cj£/I 3-vaIvis, 

 l-locularis, 3-fperma. 



Specific Charailer. 



CLAYTONIA aljinoides ; foliis radicalibus fpathulato-ovatis, 

 caulinis ovatis diftinclis, racemis fubgeminatis, 

 floribus fecundis, bra£ieis ovatis linearibufque. 



Descr. Root annual, or biennial, fibrous. Radical leaves 

 on long footftalks, ovate, acute, gradually narrowed at the 

 ba ' e > flefhy ; Cauline leaves one pair, ovate, fomewhat flefhy, 

 °Ppofite, feflile but not connate. Immediately above the 

 •eaves the ftem ufually divides into two, fometimes, though 

 niore rarely, into three branches, bearing the flowers on long 

 pedicles fingly, or two or three together, ufually looking one 

 Wa y, more or lefs nodding both before and after the efflor- 

 efcence ; furnifhed each with a bracle at its bafe, ovate like 

 imall leaves at the lower, and linear at the upper ones. Calyx 

 two-valved. Corolla of five petals, united at the bafe, white, 

 e marginate. Filaments inferted into the bafe of the petals : 

 Anthers red. In habit it bears fome refemblance to Stellar i a 

 Media or common Chickweed. 



This fpecies is ufually taken for C.fibirica, to which it is 

 Ve ry fimilar, but differs in the fize and form of its cauline 

 ,e aves, which in the latter are more than twice as large and 

 °' a rhomboid fhapc, more remarkably veined, and more nar- 

 rowed at the bafe, but connate ; it has alfo larger flowers, and 

 0r >e of the racemes generally bears a pair of leaves ffmilar to 

 *" e firfl ; the other bracW are air narrow and not like the 

 nrft. 



Jt appears by the fpecimens preferved in the Bankfian Her- 

 barium that our plant is a native of Nootka Sound, where it was 

 jhfeovered by Mr. Menzies. Communicared by Mr. George 

 ^Raves, Walworth. Flowers in May, June, and July, and 

 ■ moift ground will maintain itfelf by its fcattered feeds, 



to 



^ith 



out other trouble than keeping clear from weeds 



