438 ELATINACEAE. [Vor. II. 
2. Elatine brachyspérma A. Gray. Short-seeded Water-wort. (Fig. 2467.) 
@ Elatine brachysperma A. Gray, Proc. Am, Acad, 13: 361. 1878. 
Terrestrial or sometimes submerged, spreading, tufted, 1/-2’ long. 
Leaves oblong, oval or lanceolate, narrowed at the base, 2’/-3’’ long, 
about 1’’ wide, obtuse; flowers sessile, axillary, minute; sepals, pet- 
INS als, stamens and stigmas mainly 2; capsule nearly as in the preceding 
\ at species; seeds short-oblong, nearly straight, about 14’’ long, marked 
Vy by 6-7 longitudinal striae and 10-12 cross-bars. 
| 
aH } Margins of ponds, Illinois and California, doubtless occurring between 
these limits. Summer. 
3. Elatine triandra Schk. Long-stemmed 
Water-wort. (Fig. 2468.) 
Elatine triandra Schk. Bot. Hand. 1: 345. 1791. 
Flaccid, tufted, immersed or creeping, stems 
2/-4’ long, much branched. Leaves oblong or ob- 
lanceolate, very thin, obtuse, 2/’’-4’’ long, 1/’ 
wide, narrowed at the base; flowers minute, axil- 
lary, sessile; sepals commonly 2; petals, stamens 
and stigmas 3; seeds slightly curved, about the 
size of those of Z. Americana, slightly marked 
longitudinally and transversely. 
Ponds, Illinois and Nebraska. Also in Europe. 
Summer. \ ( ti 
2, BERGIA L,. Mant. 1: LS 2em wligeyle 
Herbs, or somewhat shrubby plants, branching, erect, ascending or prostrate, more or 
less pubescent, with opposite serrate or entire leaves, and small axillary solitary or clustered 
flowers. Parts of the flower in 5’s (very rarely in 4’s or 3’s). Sepals acute. Pod crustaceous, 
ovoid, 5-valved. Seeds numerous, striate longitudinally and transversely. [In honor of Dr. 
P. J. Bergius, 1723-1790, professor of Natural History in Stockholm. ] 
About 15 species, natives of warm and temperate regions, 
1. Bergia Texana (Hook.) Seub. Texas Bergia. 
(Fig. 2469. ) 
Merimea Texana Hook. Icon. Pl. fl. 278. 1840. 
Bergia Texana Seub.; Walp. Rep. 1: 285. 1842. 
Prostrate or ascending, diffusely branched, pubescent, stems 
6/-10’ long. Leaves spatulate or obovate, 1-114’ long, 6’/— 
8’’ wide, acutish or obtuse, serrate, narrowed into a short 
petiole; stipules scarious, about 1’’ long, ciliate-serrulate; 
flowers short-peduncled, about 114’’ broad, solitary or 2-3 to- 
gether in the axils; sepals ovate, acuminate, denticulate, 
slightly longer than the oblong obtuse petals; capsule glo- 
bose, 1’’ in diameter, its dehiscence septifragal; seeds oblong, 
striate longitudinally and cross-barred. 
Southern Illinois to Texas, west to Nevada and California. 
Summer, 
