228 HEXANORIA. MONOGTNIA. 



S36. PEPLIS. L. (Water Purslane.) 



Calix campanulate; border 12-cleft, se.^ments 

 alternately reflected. Fetals 6, (or none,) in- 

 serted upon the calix. Capsule superior, 2-cell- 

 ed, many-seeded, covered by the calix; disse- 

 piment seminiferous. 



A creeping plant, \vith opposite leaves, peculiar to 

 marshes and the margins of ponds; flowers small, axil- 

 lary, solitary and opposite; petals fugacious, often wanting; 

 -Capsule membranaceous. P. indica appears to be a spe- 

 cies of .?;«a7/?j/a; and P. portula of Europe the only ge- 

 nuine species of this genus ought also to be compared 

 with Amcmnia, from which it is scarcely distinct. 



Species. 1. P. ajnericuna- Pursh, 1. p. 238. Probably 

 the plant which I have published in the Journal of the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. A'^ol. I. No. 

 6. p. 117. t. 6. f. 1. under the name of Ci-i/pia minima, but 

 this being a matter of uncertainty, I have inserted the 

 genus for future examination. I must, however, here re- 

 mark, in addition to thai publication, the affinity which 

 evidently exists between Crypta and the genus Llatiyie. 

 The seeds oi E. Ah-inastrum^ as well as the disposition of 

 the capsule, are abviously similar, and the former equally 

 discrepant, apparently with the character of the Caryo- 

 phvllea:; tlie essential differences of these 2 genera con- 

 sist in the nun ber and disposition of the parts of fructi- 

 fication, and the absence or presence of styles; in Crypta 

 the petals and stamina are equal in number; in Elntine ihe 

 stamina are double the number of the petals, but the sta- 

 mina themselves appear similar, in this genus thtreare 

 also 3 or 4 cloven styles sufficiently visible, in Crypta 2 or 

 3 minute and microscopic points in place of st\ les and 

 stigmas. To these distinctions we may add the deficiency 

 of number in Crypta which would not, however, other- 

 wise have proved any thing essential. The difference of 

 habit between these 2 genera is also considerable. 



337. FLCERKEA. Willdenow. 



Calix 3-leaved. Corolla of 3 petals, sliorter 

 than the calix. Style bifid. Fencarp none. 

 Seeds 2 or 3, membranaceously coated, superior. 



A somewhat succulent plant, growing in alluvial marshes, 

 but not aquatic. Annual, and decumbent; leaves alter- 

 nate, trifid and pinnatifid, marcescent; peduncles solitary, 



