GENUS 4. 



PURSLANE FAMILY. 



39 



i. Montia f on tana L Water or Blinking Chickweed. 

 Blinks. Water-blinks. Fig. 1743. 



Montia fontana L. Sp. PI. 87. 1753. 



Densely tufted, very green, weak, diffuse or ascending. i'-6 

 long, freely branching. Leaves opposite, spatulate or obovate, 

 mainly obtuse, 3"-6" long, i" broad or less; flowers nodding, 

 solitary and terminal or in a small loose leafy-bracted raceme ; 

 sepals obtuse, slightly shorter than the ovate-oblong petals ; 

 capsule globose, nearly i" in diameter. 



In springs and wet places, St. Anne des Monts, Quebec ; Maine, 

 Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Labrador, Newfoundland, and across 

 arctic America, extending south in the mountains to California. 

 Also in the Andes of South America, in Australasia and in north- 

 ern Europe and Asia. Summer. 



5. LIMNIA [L.] Haw. Syn. PI. Succ. 11. 1812. 



Fibrous-rooted succulent herbs, mostly annual in duration, with basal petioled leaves, and 

 a pair of sessile or connate-perfoliate leaves on the stem below the inflorescence. Flowers 

 pink or white, racemose. Calyx of 2 persistent sepals. Petals 5, distinct and equal. Stamens 

 5. Ovary 2-3-ovuled. Capsule 3-valved, 2-3-seeded [Greek, referring to the marsh habitat 

 of some species.] 



Twelve species, or more, natives of western North America. Type species : Limnia sibirica 

 (L.) Haw. 



i. Limnia perfoliata (Bonn) Haw. 

 Spanish Lettuce. Fig. 1744. 



Claytonia perfoliata Bonn ; Willd. Sp. PI. i : 1186. 



1798. 



L. perfoliata Haw. Syn. PI. Succ. 12. 1812. 

 Montia perfoliata Howell, Erythea i : 38. 1893. 



Annual, roots fibrous, stems several, erect 

 or ascending, simple, 3'-i2' high, bearing a 

 pair of connate-perfoliate leaves near the 

 summit, completely or partially united into 

 an orbicular concave disk, 2' broad or less. 

 Basal leaves rhomboid-ovate, long-petioled, 

 the blade i' long or more, obtuse or acute 

 at apex, narrowed into the petiole ; petioles 

 shorter than the stems; raceme usually pe- 

 duncled, loosely or compactly several-flow- 

 ered, sometimes compound; bracts broad, 

 deciduous; flowers white or pink, 3"-s" 

 broad ; petals and stamens 5 ; capsule globose, 

 i"-2" in diameter, 2-5-seeded. 



Established near Painesville, Ohio. Native 

 from British Columbia to Mexico. April-May. 



6. PORTULACA [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 445. 1753. 



Diffuse or ascending, glabrous or pubescent fleshy herbs, with terminal flowers. Sepals 

 2, united at the base and partly adnate to the ovary. Petals 4-6 (mainly 5), inserted on the 

 calyx, fugacious. Stamens 7-, also on the calyx. Ovary many-ovuled; style deeply 

 3-9-cleft or parted Capsule membranous, dehiscent by a lid, many-seeded. [Latin, in allu- 

 sion to the purging qualities of some species.] 



A genus of about 20 species, all but 2 or 3 natives of America. In addition to the following, 

 some 7 others occur in the southern United States. Type species : Portulaca oleracea L. 



Glabrous throughout ; flowers small, yellow ; leaves flat. 



Leaves mainly rounded at the apex; seeds minutely rugose. i. P. oleracea. 



Leaves mainly retuse ; seeds prominently tuberculate. 2. P. retusa. 

 Pilose-pubescent especially in the axils ; leaves terete 



Flowers red, 4"-6" broad. 3. P. pilosa. 



Flowers variously colored, \'-2 r broad. 4. P. grand iflora. 



