CARYOPHYLLACE^. (PINK FAMILY.) 47 



1. S. Americana, Torr. & Gray. Stems prostrate, diffuse, pubescent in 

 lines ; leaves lanceolate, narrowed at the base ; the radical ones larger and 

 crowded ; flowers obovate, solitary in the forks of the stem, and clustered at the 

 end of the branches ; sepals rounded and incurved at the apex, tiie tube bristly 

 with hooked hairs ; petals minute. ( Herniaria Americana, Nutt. Paronychia 

 urceolata, S/nittl ) — Sandy banks of rivers, Florida to South Carolina, and 

 westward. June -Oct. (1) or (g) — Stems l°-3° long. Leaves sometimes 

 falcate and incrusted with brownish particles. Stipules small. 



2. S. diffusa, n. sp. Pubescent ; stems prostrate, diffusely-branched ; leaves 

 lanceolate, obtuse, narrowed at the base ; flowers small, in compact, rectangular 

 cymes, terminating all the branches ; sepals linear, slightly concave and mucro- 

 nate at the apex, the tube bristly with hooked hairs; petals bristle-like. — Dry 

 sandy pine barrens, Florida. June -Oct. Q[) — Stems 1° long. Stipules con- 

 spicuous, on young plants half as long as the leaves, at length 2-parted. Cymes 

 very numerous. 



3. S. erecta, n. sp. Stems smooth, clustered, erect, rigid, mostly simple ; 

 leaves erect, linear, acute, pubescent on the margins, those of the barren stems 

 imbricated ; cyme compound, rectangular, fastigiatc, compact ; sepals lanceolate, 

 smooth, acutish, or obscurely mucronatc at the apex, the tube smooth and fur- 

 rowed ; petals bristle-like, half as long as the stamens. — Sands along the west 

 coast of Florida. June -Nov. y. — Hoot woody. Stems 6'- 12' high. Stij)- 

 ules half as long as the leaves. 



4. S. Rugelii. Annual ; stem erect, successively forking, clothed with a 

 short and rather dense pubescence, as also the leaves and bracts ; leaves oblance- 

 olate, abrupth' pointed, shorter than the internodcs, the upper ones linear ; stip- 

 ules 4- ^ as long as the leaves, soon 2-4-parted; cymes numerous, terminal, 

 rather loosely flowered ; calyx-tubc short, pubescent, the linear-lanceolate divis- 

 ions conspicuously mucronate, white ; petals bristle-like ; style included. (Pa- 

 ronychia Kugelii, Shutll.) — East Florida. — Stems 1° high, at length diffuse ' 



4. STIPULICIDA, Michx. 



Sepals .5, emarginate, white-margined. Petals 5, spatulatc, 2-toothed near 

 the base, longer than the sepals, withering-persistent. Stamens 3, opposite the 

 inner sepals. Style very short, 3-parted. Capsule 1 -celled, 3-valved, many- 

 seeded. — A small perennial, with an erect forking stem. Stem-leaves minute, 

 subulate, with adnate pectinate stipules. Radical leaves spatulate, clustered, 

 growing from a tuft of bristly stipules. Flowers white, in terminal clusters. 



1 . S. setacea, Michx. — Low sandy pine barrens, Florida to North Caro- 

 lina. April- June. — Stem 3' -6' high, the branches spreading and curving. 



5, SPERGULARIA, Pers. 



Sepals 5. Petals 5, oval, entire. Stamens 2-10. Styles 3-5. Capsule 

 3-5-valved; the valves when 5, alternate with the sepals. — A low maritime 

 herb, with opposite fleshy leaves, and conspicuous scarious stipules. Flowers 

 axillary, solitarv, rose-colored. 



