262 PORTULACACEAE 



Family 42. PORTULACACEAE. Purslane Family. 



Succulent plants, with opposite or alternate leaves. Flowers perfect, 

 regular. Sepals 2, or in Lewisia 6-8. Petals 4 or 5, rarely more, imbricate. 

 Stamens as many as the petals. Gynoecium of 2-5 united carpels; ovary 

 1-celled, usually superior; stj^les 2-5, distinct or partly united. Fruit a 

 valvate or circumscissile capsule. 



Ovary wholly superior. 



Styles or stigmas 3-8; sepals not accrescent; inflorescence not secund. 



Sepals deciduous, scarious; capsule 3-valved; plant with fleshy rootstock or root; 



ours with terete leaves. 1. Taijnum, 



Sepals persistent, at least in part herbaceous. 

 Capsule 3-valved; styles 3. 



Plants with a corra, or a fleshy root, crowned with a short caudex ; cauline 



leaves opposite; ovules usually 6. 2. Claytonia. 



Plants annual, or perennial, with slender rootstocks; ovules usually 3. 

 Stem-leaves opposite. 



Stem-leaves a single pair; plant neither rooting at the nodes nor 



flagelliferous. 3. Limnia. 



Stem-leaves of several pairs; plant floating and rooting at the nodes, 

 usually flagelliferous. 4. Ckunocalus. 



Stem-leaves alternate. 



Leaves very fleshy; perennials, with bulblets and creeping stems or 



stolons. 5. Naiochene. 



Leaves not fleshy; erect annuals, without bulblets and stolons. 



6. MONTIASTIiUM. 



Capsule circumscissile near the base. 



Sepals 6-8; scape jointed above the middle, with 2 or more subulate bracts 



at the joint. 7. Lewisia. 



Sepals 2 ; scape not jointed near the middle. 



Plants with a thick perennial root, bearing one or several short caudices. 



8. Ohkobroma. 



Plants with a globular corm and a slender stem bearing 2-3 verticil- 

 late leaves. 9. Ekocallis. 

 Styles or stigmas 2; capsule 2-valved; sepals scarious and accrescent; inflorescence 

 secund. 10. Spil\guea. 

 Ovary partly inferior, circumscissile; ours low spreading leafy annuals, with flat leaves. 



11. Portulaca. 



1. TALINUM Adans. Fame-flower. 



Perennial herbs or shrubby plants, ours with fleshy rootstocks. Leaves 

 alternate or nearly opposite, in ours terete. Flowers in terminal cjTiies, or in 

 some species axillary. Sepals 2, scarious, deciduous. Petals 5 or more, early 

 withering. Stamens usuaUy more numerous than the petals. Ovary superior; 

 styles 3, more or less united. Capsules 1-celled, 3-valved, parchment-like. 

 Seeds flattened, reniform, shining. 



Plant scapose, from a corm-like rootstock. 



Flowers about 1 cm. wide; stamens 5-10. 1. T. parviflorum. 



Flowers 2-3 cm. wide; stamens 30 or more. 2. T. calycinum. 



Plant low and spreading, from a branched rootstock ; flowers axillary. 3. T. hrachypodum. 



1. T. parviflorum Xutt. Scape usually 1 dm. high or less; leaves numerous, 

 basal, terete, 2-5 cm. long, glabrous; sepals ovate, 2-3 mm. long; petals rose or 

 %vhitish, 5-7 mm. long; capsule ellipsoid, 3-4 mm. long. Rocky soil: Minn. — 

 S.D. — Ariz. — Tex.; Mex. Son. — Plaiii — Submont. Jl-Au. 



2. T. calycinum Engelm. Scape 1-2 dm. high; leaves 1-5 cm. long, gla- 

 brous; sepals ovate-orbicular, 5 mm. long, tardily deciduous; petals 8-10, i)ink, 

 10-12 mm. long; capsule subglobose, 6-7 mm. long. Sandy soil: Ark. — Mo. — • 

 Neb. — N.M.; Mex. Plain — Son. Je-S. 



3. T. brachypodum S. Wats. Lower leaves scale-like, the others linear, 

 fleshy, 5-12 mm. long; pedicels very short, 2-5 mm. long, articulate below; 

 sepals ovate, acutish, 4-5 mm. long; petals bright pink, 8-10 mm. long; stamens 

 10; capsule ovate, 4 mm. long. Barren hills and mesas: s Utah — N.M.— ^Ariz. 

 Son. Jl-Au. 



2. CLATTONIA (Gronov.) L. Spring Beauty, Ground-nxtt. 



Perennial fleshy herbs, with tuber-like corms or a thick fleshy root and short 

 caudex. Basal leaves solitary or few, or clustered on the caudex; stem-leaves 



