7. Centunculus L. Chaffweed 



A monotypic genus that is sometimes included in Anagallis. 



1. Centunculus minimus L. Fig. 610. 



Annual, often forming mats or small clumps, the stems erect or ascending, to 

 12 cm. long; leaves subsessile, alternate, entire, obovate to oblanceolate or oblong- 

 spatulate, to 8 mm. long and 5 mm. wide; flowers sessile in leaf axils, ephemeral, 

 4- or occasionally 5-merous; sepals linear-lanceolate, about 2 mm. long; corolla 

 rotate, pinkish, about 1 mm. wide, with an urceolate short tube and ovate-lanceolate 

 lobes about half as long as the tube, withering on the apex of the capsule; stamens 

 4 or 5, inserted near corolla throat, included, the filaments beardless; capsule sub- 

 globose, circumscissile, to 2 mm. in diameter. 



In damp sand and mud in depressions, bogs, along streams, grasslands and open 

 woods mainly in e. and s. Tex., Okla. (Johnston and McCurtain cos.), N.M. 

 (probably) and Ariz. (Coconino, Graham, Cochise, Santa Cruz and Pima cos.), 

 Feb.-May; from Fla. to Tex., Calif, and Mex., n. to N.S., O., 111., Minn., and 

 Sask., nearly cosmopolitan. 



8. Anagallis L. Pimpernel 



About 28 species that are cosmopolitan in distribution. 

 1. Anagallis arvensis L. Scarlet pimpernel, hierba del pajaro, poorman's- 



WEATHER-GLASS. Fig. 611. 



Low spreading or procumbent annual herb with opposite leaves and solitary 

 flowers on axillary pedicels, forming loose prostrate mats, the diffuse 4-angled 

 stems much-branched and to 3 dm. long; leaves sessile or somewhat clasping the 

 stem, suborbicular to ovate or elliptic, to 2 cm. long and 1 cm. wide; pedicels 

 slender, exceeding the leaves; flowers variable in size and color, from scarlet to 

 salmon-color and sometimes almost white or blue [in f. caerulea (Schreb.) Baumg.] 

 with the petals more or less without cilia; calyx lobes lanceolate, 3-4 mm. long; 

 corolla rotate; petals 5, about equal to the calyx lobes, obovate to cuneate-obovate; 

 somewhat fringed with minute teeth and stalked glands at the obtuse to rounded 

 apex; stamens 5, inserted near base of corolla tube, the filaments bearded; capsules 

 about 4 mm. in diameter, globose, membranous, circumscissile, many-seeded. 



Usually in moist places, wet depressions and wet sands in prairies and flatlands 

 mostly in e. and s. Tex., Okla. (Delaware Co.), N.M. (Sierra Co.) and Ariz. 

 (Maricopa, Cochise, Pinal and Pima cos.), Mar.-Sept.; nat. from Eur. 



9. Lysimachia L. Loosestrife 



Leafy-stemmed perennials with entire opposite or whorled leaves and long- 

 pedicelled yellow to orange-color and sometimes purple-dotted corollas; calyx 5- or 

 6-parted, imbricate or valvate in bud; corolla 5- or 6-parted, rotate, convolute in 

 bud or with each division convolute about its stamen; stamens 5, the filaments 

 distinct or nearly so on a ring at base of corolla or monadelphous at base, the 

 anthers ovoid to slender; capsule subglobose to ovoid, few to many-seeded, the 

 style persistent on one valve. 



About 200 species of wide distribution, especially eastern Asia and North 

 America. 

 1. Stems of flowering branches arched-reclining or creeping, often rooting at 



nodes; divisions of corolla 3-5 mm. long 1. L. radicans. 



1. Stems erect, slender, arising from slender cordlike rhizomes and stolons; divi- 

 sions of corolla 7-13 mm. long (2) 



1291 



