120 PORTULACACE^. 



1. PORTULACA. Linn.— Puislane. 

 (Origin iincertain.) 

 Calyx adnate to the ovary, 2-parted, finally separating at 

 base and deciduous. Petals 4 — 6, inserted on the calyx, equal. 

 Stamens 8 — 20. Style 3 — 6-cleftat the apex, or parted. Cap- 

 sule subglobose, 4-celled, many-seeded, opening circularly. 



P. oleracea Linn.: leaves cuneiform, obtuse, fleshy, smooth; axil^gen- 

 iculate, naked ; flowers sessile. 



Near gardens, &c. N. S. May— Aug. (!)• — ^t^^ fleshy, spreading on the 

 ground, with the summit a little assurgent. Flowers in clusters, axillary and 

 terminal, small, pale yellow. Introduced. According to Mr. Nuttall it is indi- 

 genous on the plains of the Missouri. Common Purslane. 



2. TALINUM. /Siws.— Talinum. 

 (Supposed to be derived from the Greek daWco, to be green.) 



Calyx of 2 ovate deciduous sepals. Petals 5, distinct, or 

 somewhat connected at base. Stamens 10 — 20. Style filiform, 

 cleft at the apex. Capsule 1 -celled, 3-valved, many-seeded. 



T. ieretifolium, Pursh. : leaves terete, subulate, fleshy ; peduncles elon- 

 gated, naked ; cyme terminal, somewhat dichotomous and corymbose. 



Rocks. Penn. to N Car. W. to Ark. and Texas. June — Aug. %. — Root a 

 few coareie fibres from a short, thick and fleshy rhizoma. Stems 1—4 inches 

 long, often branched. Peduncles 3 — 8 inches high. Bracts small, scarious, 

 produced at base. Petals bright purple, expanding only for a day. See a de- 

 tailed description of this plant in Darlington's Flora Cestrica. 



Cylindrical-leaved Talinimi. 



3. CLAYTONIA. Linn.— Spring Beauty. 



(In honor of John Clayton, one of the earlier Virginian botanists.) 



Calyx of 2 ovate or roundish persistent sepals. Petals 5, 



obcordate or obovate, unguic'ulate. Stamens 5, inserted on the 



claws of the petals. Ovary sessile. Style 3 -cleft. Capsule 



1 -celled, 3-valved, 3 — 5 -seeded. 



1, C. Virginica Linn. : leaves mostly 2, linear-lanceolate, elongated and 

 attenuated into a petiole below ; raceme simple, loose, at length elongated ; 

 pedicels slender, nodding ; petals usually emarginate. 



Wet meadows. Can. to Flor. March — May. %.. — -Scape 6 — 10 inches long, 

 weak, erect or subprocumbent. Flowers about 6 — 12, in a loose simple raceme. 

 Petals rose-red, with deeper veins, three times as long as the sepals. 



Narrovj-leaved Spring Beauty. 



2. C. Caroliniana Mich. : leaves ovate-lanceolate or oval, somewhat 

 spatulate, or abruptly decurrent into a petiole ; pedicels slender, nodding ; 

 sepals and petals very obtuse. C. Virginica var. latifoUa Torr. Fl. C. 

 spathulcefolia Nutt. 



Woods and liilly places. Can. to Car. W. to the Rocky Mountains. April, 



