iy t 
228 HEXANDRIA, MONOGYNIA. : 
336. PEPLAS. ZL. (Water Purslane.) 
ix campanulate; border 12-cleft, segments 
alternately reflected. Petals 6, (or none,) in- 
serted upon the calix. Capsule superior, 2-cell- ! 
ed, many-seeded, covered by the calix; disse- 
Piment seminiferous. 
“A creeping plant, with tea leaves, peculiar to 
marshes and the margins of ponds; flowers small, axil- 
__ lary, solitary and opposite; petals fugacious, often wanting; 
: capeitle WEbraabe one. P. indica appears to be a spe- , 
cies of Amannia; and P. portula of Europe the only ge- 
Duine species of this genus ought also to be compared 
With Amannia, Sui which it is scarcely distinct. { 
 Speeres. 1. i oe: 1. p. 238. Probably 
the plant which I have published in the Journal of the 
Academy of Natural Sciences of, Philadelphia. Vol. 1. No. 
6. p. 117. t. 6. f. 1. under the name of , Crypta minima, but 
this being a matter of uncertainty, I have inserted the 
~ genus for future examination. I must, however, here re- 
mark, in addition to that publication, the affinity which 
evidently exists between Crypta and the genus Elatize. 
The seeds of E. Alsinastrum, as well as the disposition of 
the capsule, are abviously similar, and the former equally 
discrepant, ppereats with the character of the Caxyo- 
_ PHYLLEAS; the essential differences of these 2 genera con- 
_ sist in the number and disposition of the parts.of fructic 
_ fication, and the absence or presence of styles; in Crypta 
_ the petals and stamina are equal in number; in E/atine the 
stamina are double the number of the petals, but the sta- 
mina themselyes appear similar, in this genus there are 
‘ also 3 or 4 cloven styles sufficiently visible, in Crypta 2 or 
3 minute and microscopic points in place of styles an@ 
stigmas. Tothese distinctions we may add the deficiency j 
of number in Crypta which would not, however, other- ; 
wise have proved any thing essential. The difference of 
habit between these 2 genera is also considerable. 
337. FLQERKEA. Willdenow. | ae 
_ Calix 8-leaved. Corolla of 3 petals, shorter 
n the calix: Style bifid. Pericarp none. | 
Seeds 2 or 3, membranaceously coated, superior. 
_Asomewhat succulent plant, growing in alluvial marshes, 
but not aquatic. yr agent decumbent; leaves alter- 
nate, and pinnatifid, marcescent; peduncles solitary, 
* 
