PURSLANE FAMILY 



PORTULACACE^ 



Although the Purslane family is a compara- 

 tively large group it contains but two species of 

 wild flowers which are widely distributed in the 

 United States. The characters of the family are 

 fairly well illustrated by the familiar Pussley, one 

 of the worst of our garden weeds, and the almost 

 equally familiar Portulacca of our flower-beds. 

 The latter is indeed very closely related to the 

 former, and in some localities it has escaped from 

 gardens to become a wild flower. Most of the 

 members of this family have more or less thick- 

 ened leaves and stems and the flowers are com- 

 monly composed of two sepals, four or five petals, 

 an equal number of stamens and one pistil. 



Spring Beauties. Two species of Spring 

 Beauty or Claytonia commonly occur in the 

 United States. The Virginia Spring Beauty 

 has a wider distribution than the Carolina Spring 

 Beauty and is the species most commonly found in 

 the middle and western states. In New England 

 and the eastern region generally the Carolina 

 form is the one usually present. The two species 

 resemble each other, differing chiefly in the shape 

 of the leaves: in the Virginian form these are 



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