140 CRASSULACE2S. (ORPINE FAMILY.) 



Petals imbricated in the bud (rarely wanting), inserted, with the distinct 

 stamens, on the base of the calyx. Pistils distinct (united below in Pen- 

 thorum), usually with a little scale at the base of each, forming pods (folli- 

 cles) which open along the inner suture. Seeds anatropous : the straight 

 embryo surrounded by thin albumen. Flowers usually cymose, small. 

 Leaves chiefly sessile. 



Synopsis. 



* Pistils entirely separate. (True Crassulaceae.) 



1. TILL2EA. Sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils 3 or 4, distinct. 



2. SEDUM. Sepals, petals, and pistils 4 or 5, distinct. Stamens 10-8. 



* * Pistils united below into a 6-celled many-seeded pod. 

 8. PENTHORUM. Sepals 5. Petals commonly none. Stamens 10. Pod 5-beaked. 



1. TILLiA, L. Till^a. 



Sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils 3 or 4. Pods 2 - many-seeded. — Very 

 small tufted annuals, with opposite entire leaves and axillary flowers. (Named 

 in honor of 77///, an early Italian botanist.) 



1. T. simplex, Nutt. Rooting at the base (l'-2' high); leaves linear- 

 oblong ; flowers solitary, nearly sessile ; calyx half the length of the (greenish- 

 white) petals and the narrow 8-10-seeded pods, the latter with a scale at the 

 base of each. (T. ascendens, Eaton.)— Muddy river-banks, Nantucket to E. 

 Pcnn. July- Sept. 



2. SEDUM, L. Stone-crop. Orpine. 



Sepals and petals 4 or 5. Stamens 8 or 10. Pods many-seeded; a little 

 scale at the base of each. — Chiefly perennial, smooth, and thick-leaved herbs, 

 with the flowers cymose or one-sided. (Name from scdeo, to sit, alluding to the 

 manner in which these plants fix themselves upon rocks and walls.) 

 * Flowers one-sided on the spreading branches of the cyme, forming a sort of spike, 



mostly with 4 petals, $c and 8 stamens, while the central flower commonly has 5 



petals, <j-c. and 10 stamens. 



1. S. pulciielliim, Michx. Steins ascending (4'- 12' high) ; leaves lin- 

 ear, nearly terete, scattered; spikes of the cyme several, densely flowered; petals 

 rose-purple, lanceolate. — Virgina to S. Illinois, Kentucky, and southward. 



2. S. tci'metum. (Thkee-leaved Stone-crop.) Steins spreading 

 (3'- 6 high); leaves fat, the lower whorlcd in threes, wedge-obovate, the upper 

 scattered, oblong ; cyme 3-spiked, leafy ; petals white, linear-lanceolate. Rocky 

 woods, Penn., to Illinois and southward. May, June. Also in gardens. 



# # Flowers in close cymes, uniformly 10-androus: leaves fat. 



3. S. telcphioides, Michx. (Wild Orpine or Live-for-ever./ 

 Stems ascending (6'- 12' high), stout, leafy to the top; leaves oblong or oval, 

 entire or sparingly toothed, scattered ; cyme small ; petals flesh-color, ovate-lan- 

 ceolate, taper-pointed; pods tapering into a slender style. — Diy rocks, Alleghany 

 Mountains, from Maryland southward, and sparingly in New Jersey ? W. New 

 York 1 and Indiana. June. 



