FAMILIES OF FLO WEEING PLANTS 



99 



Fig. 83. I^ong-leaved stitchwort 

 (A /sine longifolia), with enlarged 

 flower. Original. 



Family Caryopliyllaceae. Pink Family. Contains about 70 genera 

 and over 1500 species, widely distributed, but most abundant in the 

 northern hemisphere. They are- all herbaceous plants, the stems fre- 

 quently swollen at the joints, the leaves opposite and with or without 

 stipules. The flowers are perfect, provided with both calyx and corolla, 

 the former either composed of distinct sepals or united into a tube. 

 The ovary is one-celled, becoming a utricle or capsule in fruit. Owing 

 to the fact that a number of genera of very diverse habit and stmcture 

 are included in this family, it is difficult to give more than very general 

 characters. 



The Caryopliyllaceae are of interest only as ornamental plants. 

 Various species of Dianthus are represented in cultivation by innumer- 

 able horticultural varieties, including all the pinks^ picotees, carnations, 

 etc. Lychnis, Silene and Gi/psophila are also cultivated. In Fig. 82, a 

 wild white-flowered species of the latter genus (Silene alba) is shown. 

 A number of small herbs with white or greenish flowers, known collec- 

 tively as "chickweeds," are comprised in the genera ^re/ran'a, Alshte, 

 Spergula, Tissa and Cerastium. These are all distinguished from the 

 true pinks by having the sepals distinct and not united into a tube. 

 (See Fig. 83.) One of the familiar weeds of waste places is the 

 "Bouncing Bet," Saponaria officinalis, also a member of the Pink 

 Family. 



