126 AIZOACEAE. 



numerous sessile showy and fragrant flowers. Calyx 

 salver-shaped, the lobes usually 5, obcordate or emargi- 

 nate. Stamens usually 5, unequal, adnate to the calyx- 

 tube and included. Style included; stigma linear- 

 clavate. Fruit indurated, 3-5-winged; achene smooth, 

 cylindric. Embryo with only 1 cotyledon. 



1. A. umbellata Lam. Stems slender, prostrate and widely 

 branching, 3-10 dm. long, viscid-puberulent; leaves nearly glabrous, 

 broadly obovate to oblong, the margin rarely sinuate, 2-4 cm. 

 long, narrowed to a slender petiole of equal length or longer; pe- 

 duncles 5-10 cm. long; involucral bracts narrowly lanceolate, 4-6 

 mm. long, enclosing 10-15 flowers, forming an umbel-like head; 

 calyx rose-purple, rarely whitish, 12-16 mm. long, lobes 5, emargi- 

 nate; fruit oblong, attenuate at each end, 8-10 mm. long, glabrous; 

 wings thin, broadest above and often truncate. 



Common on the sand-dunes along the seashore. 



2. A. maritima Nutt. Stems stout, the lower portion usually 

 buried in the drifting sand, prostrate, succulent and viscid; leaves 

 thick, broadly ovate to oblong, cuneate or rounded at base, 3-5 cm. 

 long, vertical on stout petioles of about the same length; peduncles 

 slightly exceeding the leaves; involucral bracts short, ovate-oblong, 

 enclosing 10-15 flowers, forming a narrow head; calyx 1 cm. long, 

 deep red; fruit viscid-pubescent; wings rather thick. 



Common on the beach sands along the seashore. 



Family 30. AIZOACEAE. Carpet-weed Family. 



Ours herbs, very succulent, except Mollugo, with oppo- 

 site or verticillate leaves. Calyx 5-lobed, herbaceous or 

 petaloid, the tube adnate or free from the ovary. Petals 

 numerous or wanting. Stamens 3-many, with slender 

 filaments inserted on the calyx-tube. Styles 3-20. 

 Fruit a capsule, 3-20-celled, dehiscence various. Seeds 

 numerous, minute; embryo annular; endosperm scanty 

 or copious. 



Ovary free from the calyx; petals none. 

 Sepals 5; capsule 3-valved; leaves not 



succulent. 1. Mollugo. 



Calyx-lobes 5, petaloid; capsule cir- 



cumscissile; leaves succulent. 2. Sesuvium. 



Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary; petals 

 and stamens numerous. 3. Mesembryanthemum. 



