55 
ELATINACEiE. (WATER-WORT FAMILY.) 
E« Virginica, Nutt. Leaves closely sessile or clasping by a 
I broad base , oblong or ovate, very obtuse ; filaments united below the 
| middle. (Hypericum Virginicum, L.)—Common in swamps. July, 
n Au «- ^ 
* 2- E* petiolata, Pursh. Leaves tapering into a short petiole , 
oblong : filaments united beyond the middle. —New Jersey and west- 
ward, rare. 
• 
i Order 19. ELATIIVACEiE* (Water-wort Family.) 
Little marsh annuals, with opposite dotless leaves and 
j membranaceous stipules, minute axillary flowers like Chick- 
t weeds, but the pod 2 - 5-celled, and the seeds as in St. 
John’s-worts. — The principal genus is 
!• ELATINE, L. Water-wort. 
Sepals 2 -4, persistent. Petals 2 - 4, hypogynous. Stamens 
2-8. Styles, or sessile capitate stigmas, 2-4. Pod 2 - 4-cell- 
i ed > several - many-seeded, 2 - 4-valved ; the partitions left attach- 
i ed to the axis, or evanescent. Seeds cylindrical, straightish or 
i curved. (An obscure Greek name for some such herb.) 
1* E« Americana, Amott. Dwarf (P high), creeping, root- 
ing in the mud, tufled; leaves obovate; flowers sessile; sepals, petals, 
stamens, and stigmas 2, rarely 3; seeds 5 or 6 in each cell, rising 
from the base. (Peplis Americana, Pursh. Crypta minima, Nutt.) _ 
Margin of ponds, &c. Pod very thin and delicate; the seeds large in 
proportion, straightish. 
Order 20. CARYOPHYLLACEiE. (Pink Family.) 
Herbs, with opposite entire leaves, symmetrical 4-5-mer- 
ous flowers with, or sometimes without, petals; the distinct 
stamens no more than tvriceLthe number of the sepals; styles 
seeds attached to the base or central column of the 
1-celled (rarely 3— 5-celled) pod, with a slender embryo 
coiled or curved around the outside of mealy albumen. _ 
Bland herbs; the stems usually swollen at the joints ; up¬ 
permost leaves rarely alternate. Leaves often united at the 
base. Calyx imbricated in the bud, persistent. Styles stig- 
matic along the inside. Seeds campylotropous. — There 
