136 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



laceae and the lUecebraceas, but the calyx with two 

 to three sepals is distinctive. Here are included the 

 Purslanes, often cultivated in the garden as salads 

 and potherbs. The foreign types have frequently 

 showy flowers. 



They are mainly herbaceous annuals, but a few 

 are shrubs. The plant is succulent, with fleshy leaves 

 which are opposite, reduced in some cases to hairs in 

 the axils. 



The flowers are in cymes, regular and hermaphro- 

 dite. The calyx consists of two sepals united below, 

 the lower overlapping the upper one. They are con- 

 sidered sometimes to be bracteoles. There are four 

 or more petals which are distinct or united below, 

 overlapping in bud. The stamens are five, free or 

 adnate to the petals, with filiform anther-stalks 

 opposite the petals, or indefinite. The disc is small 

 or wanting. 



The ovary is i -celled, superior. There are three 

 stigmas and two or many ovules. The style is short, 

 simple, or trifid, and the branches are stigmatic 

 throughout. The capsule opens transversely or is 

 two- to three-valved, and is one-celled. The seeds are 

 single or numerous. The embryo is round in section, 

 curved, hooked or annular, with mealy albumen. 

 The hilum is marginal. 



The flowers secrete honey and are pollinated by 

 insects, but in Water Blinks are sometimes cleisto- 

 gamic. 



The capsule is explosive in the last. In Water 



