DIAPENSIACE^— DIAPENSIA FAMILY 



PYXIE, FLOWERING MOSS. PINE-BARREN 



BEAUTY 



Pyxidanthera barbuldta 



Name from pyxis, a small box, and anther a, anther; the 

 anther opening as if by a lid. 



Perennial. A small, creeping evergreen shrub, very- 

 leafy, much branched, growing in mat-like patches. 

 Moist, sandy soil of the pine-barrens of New Jersey and 

 North Carolina. March-May. 



Root. — Long tap-root, from the centre of the matted 

 top. 



Leaves. — Moss-like, narrow, pointed, alternate, crowded 

 and overlapping; young ones woolly at base. 



Flowers. — Many, small, five-parted, white with pinkish 

 buds, solitary and terminal. 



Calyx. — Five sepals, oblong and obtuse, reddish at tip. 



Corolla. — Short, bell-shaped, five-lobed; lobes ovate, 

 erose. 



Stamens. — Five, inserted on corolla, alternate with its 

 lobes; anthers awned at base. 



Pistil. — One, with three-celled ovary and single style. 



Fruit. — Capsule, many-seeded. 



Pollinated by small flies. 



This is a pretty little creeping plant found native 

 only in the pine-barrens of New Jersey and North 



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