168 NORTH AMERICAN FLORA [VoLUME 21 
united at the base into a cup; staminodia 3; anthers oblong or linear, 2-celled. Stigmas 2, 
slender. Ovule 1, pendulous from the apex of an elongate funicle. Utricle compressed-ovoid. 
Seed inverted, lenticular, the testa coriaceous, smooth; embryo annular, surrounding the farina- 
ceous endosperm; radicle superior. 
Type species, Lithophila muscoides Sw. 
1. Lithophila muscoides Sw. Prodr. 14. 1788. 
? IMecebrum lineare Thunb. Mus. Upsal. App. 17: 6, nomen nudum. 1809. 
Achyranthes linearifolia Sw. Sv. Vet.-Akad. Handl. 1825: 48. 1825. 
Ivesine linearis Mog. in DC. Prodr. 13?: 339. 1849. 
Alternanthera caribaea Mog. in DC. Prodr. 132: 354. 1849. 
Lithophila muscoides longifolia Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 66. 1859. 
Lithophila muscoides brevifolia Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 66. 1859. 
Alternanthera muscoides Benth. & Hook. Gen. Pl. 3: 39. 1880. 
Irvesine muscoides Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 542. 1891. 
Lithophila muscoides macrantha Urban, Symb. Ant. 5: 338. 1907. 
Lithophila muscoides micrantha Urban, Symb. Ant. 5: 339. 1907. 
Root stout, somewhat woody, vertical, terminating in a branched caudex; stems few, 
slender, prostrate or ascending, 1-20 cm. long, branched, villous, especially about the nodes, 
or glabrate; basal leaves usually numerous, crowded, linear or filiform to spatulate-oblong, 
1.5-5 em. long, 0.3-5 mm. wide, obtuse, villous near the base, elsewhere glabrous; cauline leaves 
linear to obovate, 3-10 mm. long, 0.3-4 mm. wide, rounded at the apex, cuneate or attenuate 
at the base, l-nerved, glabrous; spikes solitary or glomerate, terminal or axillary, sessile or 
subsessile, 3-15 mm. long, 5 mm. in diameter; bracts ovate-triangular, acute or acuminate, 
half as long as the perianth, white, membranaceous; bractlets similar but longer, nearly equaling 
the perianth; sepals 1-2.5 mm, long, oblong or lance-oblong, the outer obtuse, villous at the 
base, white, membranaceous, the inner narrower, acute, villous along the nerve; seed lenticular, 
suborbicular, 0.5 mm. broad, brown, shining. 
TYPE LOCALITY: West Indies. 
Distrrmvurtion: In moist soil and on cliffs near the coast, from the Bahamas to the islands off 
the coast of Venezuela, but not known from Hispaniola and Jamaica, 
21. PHILOXERUS R. Br. Prodr. 416. 1810. 
Caraxeron Vaill.; Raf. Fl. Tell. 3: 38. 1837. 
Blutaparon Raf. New Fi. 4: 45, 1838. 
Prostrate or procumbent, glabrous or pubescent, branched, perennial herbs, usually 
succulent, the branches terete or angled. Leaves opposite, narrow, the blades entire. Flowers 
perfect, bracteate and bibracteolate, imbricate in dense, white, sessile or pedunculate, short 
or elongate spikes; bracts chartaceous; perianth dorsally compressed, thickened at the base 
and produced into a short stipe, 5-parted, the segments subequal, the outer ones obtuse, the 
inner ones narrower and acute. Stamens 5; filaments subulate, connate at the base; anthers 
oblong, 2-celled. Utricle broadly ovoid, compressed, coriaceous, indehiscent. Seed inverted, 
lenticular, smooth; embryo annular; endosperm farinaceous; cotyledons narrow; radicle 
superior. 
Type species, Philoxerus conicus R. Br. 
1. Philoxerus vermicularis (L.) R. Br. Prodr. 416. 1810. 
Gomphrena vermicularis L. Sp. Pl. 224. 1753. 
Illecebrum vermiculatum 1. Sp. Pl. ed. 2. 300. 1762. 
Gomphrena aggregata Willd. Enum. 294. 1809. 
Philoxerus vermiculatus Smith, in Rees, Cycl. 27: Philoxerus no. 5, 1814. 
Philoxerus aggregaius H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 2: 203. 1818. 
Philoxerus crassifolius H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 2: 203. 1818. 
Achyranthes vermicularis Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. 1: 310. 1821. 
Gomphrena crassifolia Spreng. Syst. 1: 824. 1825. 
Caraxeron vermicularis Raf. Fl. Tell. 3: 38. 1837. 
Blutaparon breviflorum Raf. New Fl. 4: 45. 1838. 
Bluiaparon repens Raf. New Fl. 4: 46. 1838. 
Iresine vermicularis Mog. in DC. Prodr. 13?: 340. 1849, 
Tresine crassifolia, Moq. in DC. Prodr. 13?: 340. 1849. 
Tresine aggregata Moq. in DC. Prodr. 132: 340. 1849. 
Celosia maritima Salzm.; Moq. in DC. Prodr. 13?: 341, as synonym. 1849. 
