418 ALSINACEAE 



Petals^5, or rarely fcMer or wanting, pink or whitish, entire. Stamens 2 or often 10 : 

 filaments slender. Ovary 1 -celled : styles 3 or rarely 5. Capsule 3-valved to the base, 

 the valves alternate with the sepals, rarely 5-valved. Seeds often margined, smooth or 

 tuberculate. The jalants flower from spring to fall. Sand Spurry. 



Species of sandy banks of the interior : plants scarcely fleshy. 



Corolla much longer than the sepals. 1. T.bracteata. 



Corolla wanting, or of 1-3 minute petals. 2. T. graeilis. 



Species of maritime or saline habitats : plants decidedly fleshy. 3. T. marina. 



1. Tissa bracteata (Robinson) Small. Annual, slender, almost glabrous or viscid- 

 pubescent. Stem branched at the base, the branches wire-like, spreading or procumbent, 4-15 

 cm. long, forking: leaves fleshy, linear-filiform, 0.5-2 cm. long: pedicels filiform, 4-6 

 mm. long : sepals ovate, about 2-3 mm. long, obtuse, hyaline-margined : corolla pink or 

 whitish, 4.5-6.5 mm. broad : stamens usually 2 or 3 : capsules ovoid, slightly longer than 

 the sepals : seeds usually roughened, 0.5 mm. broad. [Spergulnria salsu(/inea var. bracteaUi 

 Kobinson.] 



In sandy soil, Texas. Also from Washington to California. 



2. Tissa grdcUis (S. Wats.) Britton. Annual, slender, glabrous. Stem diffusely 

 branched at the base, the branches erect or spreading, 4-15 cm. long, forking : leaves fili- 

 form, 3-10 mm. long, acute ; stipules deltoid : pedicels 4-7 mm. long : sepals ovate or 

 elliptic-ovate, 1.5-2 mm. long, obtuse, hyaline-margined : corolla 2-2.5 mm. broad : petals 

 surpassing the sepals : capsules ovoid, J-.t longer than the sejDals : seeds 0.4 mm. thick, 

 minutely roughened. 



In sandy soil, Texas and southern California. 



3. Tissa marina (L. ) Britton. Annual or biennial, stoutish, glabrous or pubescent. 

 Stem branched at the base, the branches decumbent, 1-2 dm. long, forking : leaves fleshy, 

 linear, 1-3 cm. long, sometimes fascicled ; stipules ovate : pedicels slender, 0.5-1.5 cm. 

 long : sepals ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 4-6 mm. long, obtuse, hyaline-margined : corolla 

 pink or reddish, 2-4 mm. broad : capsides ovoid, slightly longer than the sepals or some- 

 times twice as long : seeds smooth or minutely roughened, each with a broad wing. 



In sandy soil along the coast, New Brunswick to Florida and Texas. Also in saline soil in the 

 interior and on the Pacific coast. 



4. SPERGULA L. 



Diffuse annual lierbs, with somewhat succulent tissues. Leaves numerous, often 

 apparently whorled and commonly clustered, thick, narrow, with stipules. Flowers in 

 terminal cymes. Sepals 5, persistent. Petals 5, white, surpassing the sepals. Stamens 

 10, or rarely 5 : filaments very short. Ovary 1-celled : styles 5. Capsule 5-valved, often 

 surpassing the calyx, the valves opposite the sepals. Spukry. Corn Spurry. 



1. Spergula arvensis L. Foliage glabrous or pubescent. Stems more or less diffusely 

 branched at the base, the branches usually simple below the wide-spreading terminal 

 dichotomous cyme : leaves clustered, apparently whorled, linear-filiform, 1-3 cm. long : 

 pedicels filiform, often deflexed in fruit : sepals oblong or oblong-ovate, 3.5-5 mm. long, 

 obtuse : petals equalling or slightly surpassing tlie sepals : capsules globose-ovoid, 6-7 mm. 

 long, surpassing the sepals : seeds slightly over 1 mm. broad, minutely roughened, nar- 

 rowly winged. 



In fields and waste places, throughout eastern North America. Naturalized from Europe. Summer. 



5. POLYCARPON L. 



Low annual lierbs, with branching stems. Leaves opposite or four in a whorl : blades 

 flat. Flowers inconspicuous, in more or less compound cymes. Sepals 5, entire, keeled, 

 scarious-margined. Petals 5, shorter than the sepals, sometimes emarginate. Stamens 

 3-5 : filaments short. Ovary 1-celled : styles 2-3. Capsule 3-valved, often surpassed by 

 the calyx. Seeds several, with the embryo merely curved. 



1. Polycarpon tetraphyllum L. f. Foliage glabrous. Stems usually much 

 branched at tlie base, the branches forking, 2-12 cm. long : leaves spatulate to oval, 0.5- 

 1.5 cm. long, obtuse or acutish, in whorls of 4 below, opposite above : pedicels 1-3 mm. 

 long : sepals less than 1.5 mm. long, liooded, the keel prolonged into a tip: petals shorter 

 than the sepals, emarginate : capsules broadly ovoid, much shorter than the sepals : seeds 

 0.4 mm. long. 



In waste places and woods. South Carolina to Alabama, and in California. Also widely distrib- 

 uted in other parts of the world. Spring to fall. 



