Pink Family 149 



10; mature capsule 0-8 nun. long; seeds smooth or somewhat 

 roughened, sometimes margined. 



Common in salt marshes toward the coast. 



2. T. tenuis Greene. Slender, diffusely branching, forming 

 depressed mats about 3 dm. broad, glahrous or nearly so; leaves 

 narrowly linear, 2.r> cm. long; stipules inconspicuous; flowers 

 minute, numerous, cymosely crowded on all but the lower parts 

 of the branches, subsessile; sepals obtuse, less than 2 mm. long; 

 petals wanting; stamens 2; styles 3; capsule 3-sided, 6-8 mm. 

 long; seeds numerous, minute, reddish-brown, smooth, wingless. 



Santa Monica, Ni vin. 



3. T. gracilis (Wats.) Britton. Much resembling the last, 

 but the flowers on pedicels 2-4 mm. long; capsule 2 mm. long; 

 seeds triangular-pyriform, strongly rough-tuberculate. 



Occasional on the mesas in low adobe soil ; Wilmington ; Inglewood. 

 March-April. 



** Perennial, roots fleshy. 



4. T. macrotheca (Hornem.) Britton. Perennial, from a 

 fleshy root; glandular-pubescent or nearly smooth ; stems stout, 

 ascending, 4 dm. high or less, branching from the base; leaves 

 broadly linear, 4 cm. long or less; flowers on pedicels usually 

 about 15 mm. long; calyx-lobes 6-8 mm. long; petals rose color; 

 stamens 10; capsule equaling the calyx-lobes; seeds winged, 

 smooth. 



Common in salt marshes and alkaline flats. May-July. 



8. POLYCARPON L. 



Low diffuse, dichotomously branched annuals with 

 flat stipulate leaves and minute cymose flowers. Sepals 

 5, carinate-eoncave. Petals 5, minute, hyaline. Sta- 

 mens 3-5. Ovary 1 -celled ; style short, 3-cleft. Capsule 

 3-valved, several-seeded. 



1. P. depressum Xutt. Very slender, prostrate, the many 

 branches 2.5-5 cm. long; leaves opposite, spatulate, glabrous; 

 stipules small, narrow; flowers minute; the pedicels with small 

 bracts; petals very narrow, shorter than the sepals, entire; cap- 

 sule globose, 6-12-seeded. 



On seashore sand-dunes, and in sandy soil in the foothills. Not common. 

 March-May. 



