CARYOPHYLLACEAE. 97 



inflated, pale green, the nerves inconspicuous, the short teeth scarious-margined ; 

 petals white or pink, 2-lobed; scales oblong, obtuse; claw broad, with a short 

 auricle on each side at the apex. Grassy hillsides, common. 



Silene oregana Wats. Perennial; whole plant sticky-pubescent; stems 

 erect, 15-30 cm. high; basal leaves oblanceolate, long-petioled; cauline lanceo- 

 late, sessile; inflorescence narrow, rather dense; pedicels slender; calyx cylindric 

 or club-shaped; petals white, 20 mm. long, the claws narrow and auricled, the 

 blades cleft into 4-8 narrow segments; capsule narrowed at base into a long 

 stipe. Common in the Blue Mountains; also near Spokane. 



Silene spaldingii Wats. Perennial, viscid-tomentose; stems erect, swollen 

 at the nodes, 30-40 cm. high, very leafy; leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 

 3-5 cm. long; flowers in a narrow panicle; calyx cylindric or obconical, 14-16 

 mm. long, green, net- veined; petals 2-cleft, the lobes short and entire; ap- 

 pendages 4, small; claw with broad auricles. A rare species. Cheney, Mrs. 

 Tucker; Lapwai, Idaho, Spalding. 



Silene scouleri Hook. Perennial, puberulent throughout, glandular- viscid 

 above; stems erect, simple, 40-60 cm. tall, solitary or tufted; radical leaves 

 lanceolate or oblanceolate, 4-6 cm. long, on slender petioles of equal length; 

 cauline several pairs, sessile at the swollen nodes, lanceolate, 5-8 cm. long; 

 inflorescence narrow, elongated; flowers short-pedicelled, one or several in the 

 axils; calyx cylindrical or club-shaped, 10-15 mm. long, with 10 dark nerves 

 and short scarious-margined teeth; petals 2-cleft, the lobes notched; auricles 

 of the claw narrow, cleft into narrow lobes. In dry coniferous woods. 



131. SPERGULA. 



Annual branched herbs; leaves subulate, fascicled, with scari- 

 ous stipules; flowers in a cymose panicle; sepals 5; petals 5, 

 white; stamens 10, rarely 5; ovary 1-celled; capsule- valves 5, 

 opposite the sepals. 



Spergula arvensis L. Spurry. Minutely and sparsely glandular through- 

 out; stems several, mostly simple below the inflorescence, 30-^50 cm. long, 

 decumbent or ascending; leaves narrowly linear, 2-3 cm. long, in fascicles of 

 6-15; flowers in a loose cyme, the pedicels becoming deflexed; petals white, 

 4-5 mm. long, equalling or exceeding the sepals; capsule ovoid; seeds black, 

 acutely margined, minutely roughened. Introduced into grain fields. 



132. TISSA. 



Low annual biennial or perennial herbs; leaves fleshy, linear 

 or setaceous, with scarious stipules; flowers in terminal racemose 

 cymes; sepals 5; petals 5 (in ours), purplish or white; stamens 

 2-10, commonly 10; styles 3, very rarely 5; ovary 1-celled; 

 capsule-valves as many as the styles, when 5, alternate with the 

 sepals. 



Stipules silvery, conspicuous, lanceolate. T. rubra. 



Stipules small, triangular. T. diandra. 



Tissa rubra (L.) Britt. Annual, sometimes biennial or perennial, prostrate 

 or decumbent; stems slender, 10-30 cm. long, smooth below, glandular above; 

 leaves linear, cuspidate, 8-12 mm. long; stipules silvery, attenuate-lanceolate, 

 4-5 mm. long; flowers in a small cyme; pedicels filiform, exceeding the leaf-like 



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