CHICKWEED FAMILY 171 



4-toothed ; seeds laterally attached. [Name Latin, meaning cow, in allusion to the plant's 

 value for fodder.] 



Three species, natives of Eurasia. Type species, Saponaria Vaccaria L. 



1. Vaccaria vulgaris Host., Cow-herb, Cockle. Fig. 1754. 



Saponaria Vaccaria L. Sp. PI. 409. 1753. 

 Vaccaria vulgaris Host, Fl. Aust. 1: 518. 1827. 

 Vaccaria Vaccaria Britt. 111. Fl. 2: 18. 1897. 



Stems 3-10 dm. high, dichotomously branched above. Leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 

 3-7 cm. long, connate at base; pedicels slender, bibracteate at base; calyx-tube becoming ovoid, 

 10-13 mm. long, pallid between the winged angles, the teeth lanceolate-triangular, 3 mm. long; 

 petals pale red, exserted 5-10 mm. beyond the calyx, crenulate. 



Waste places and fields, becoming widely distributed over the Pacific States. Native of Europe. May— Aug. 



16. DIANTHUS L. Sp. PI. 409. 1753. 



Perennial or rarely annual herbs, with rather stiff stems and usually narrow leaves. 

 Flowers usually purple, showy, in terminal cymose panicles or solitary. Calyx 5-toothed, 

 the tube cylindric, finely many-striate. Petals long-clawed, toothed. Stamens 10. Styles 2. 

 Ovary 1 -celled, stipitate. Capsule oblong-cylindric, stipitate, dehiscent at the summit by 

 4 or 5 short teeth. Seeds compressed, laterally attached; embryo straight, eccentric. [Name 

 Greek, the flower of Zeus or Jove.] 



About 200 species inhabiting the Old World, one arctic species of Siberia extending into arctic America. An 

 important group of ornamental plants including the pinks and carnations. Type species, Dianthus Caryophyllus L. 



1. Dianthus Armeria L. Deptford Pink, Grass Pink. Fig. 1755. 



Dianthus Armeria L. Sp. PI. 410. 1753. 



Stiffly erect annual, finely pubescent throughout, 15-45 cm. high. Leaves linear-erect, 2.5-7.5 

 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide ; flowers terminal, solitary or usually in few-flowered clusters ; bracts 

 lanceolate-subulate, exceeding the calyx ; calyx-teeth subulate ; petals pink with whitish spots, 

 exserted about 3-5 mm. 



Waste places and roadsides, sparingly established in Oregon and Washington. Native of Europe. June— Aug. 



Dianthus barbatus L. Sp._ PI. 409. 1753. (Sweet William) Occasionally growing spontaneously in western 

 Oregon and northern California. 



17. SAPONARIA L. Sp. PI. 408. 1753. 



Annual or perennial herbs with erect or diffuse stems, mostly broad leaves and showy 

 flowers. Calyx 5-toothed, the tube ovoid or cylindric, obscurely nerved. Petals 5, long- 

 clawed, entire or emarginate. Stamens 10. Styles 2; ovary 1-celled or incompletely 

 2-4-celled. Capsule ovoid or oblong, dehiscent by 4 short apical teeth. [Name from the 

 Latin sapo meaning soap, the juice being saponaceous.] 



About 20 species, inhabiting Eurasia and northern Africa. Type species, Saponaria officinalis L. 



1. Saponaria officinalis L. Bouncing Bet, Soapwort. Fig. 1756. 



Saponaria officinalis L. Sp. PI. 408. 1753. 



Stout, erect, glabrous perennial, the stems simple or sparingly branched, leafy, 3-6 dm. high. 

 Leaves lanceolate to ovate, 5-7 cm. long, acute, narrowed at base to a short broad petiole, prom- 

 inently 2-5-nerved ; flowers in a dense terminal corymb ; bracts foliaceous or reduced and very 

 narrow; calyx-tube cylindric or nearly so, 15-20 mm. long, the teeth lanceolate, 2 mm. long; 

 petals obcordate, well exserted and spreading, with a scale at the base of the blade ; pod included, 

 narrowly oblong. 



Fields and waste places, locally established in the Pacific States from Washington to northern California. 

 Native of Europe. June-Sept. 



18. VELEZIA [Loefl.] L. Sp. PI. 332. 1753. 



Annual herbs with rigid, dichotomously branching stems and subulate leaves. Flowers 

 subsessile, solitary in the axils of the leaves or congested at the ends of the branches. 

 Calyx 5-toothed, narrowly cylindric, with 5 or 15 ribs. Petals 5, long-clawed, the blades 

 small, entire or 4-toothed with small ciliate crests. Styles 2; ovary 1-celled. Capsule nar- 

 rowly linear, 4-valved at apex. Seeds orbicular or ovoid, embryo straight. [Name in honor 

 Cristobal Velez, a friend of Loefling.] 



Four species, inhabiting the Mediterranean region. Type species, Velezia rigida L. 



1. Velezia rigida L. Velezia. Fig. 1757. 



Velezia rigida L. Sp. PI. 332. 1753. 



Annual, branching from the base, the branches simple or dichotomously branching, spreading, 



