CRASSULACE^E. 121 



May. 1|-. Stem 4 8 inches high. Cauline leaves sometimes oval. Sepals 

 roundish-ovate. Petals pale rose-color, entire or slightly emarginate. Smaller 

 than the preceding. Broad-leaved Spring Beauty. 



ORDER LII. SCLERANTHACE^E. KNAWELS. 



Calyx 4 or 5-toothed, with a stiff tube. Stamens 1 10, in- 

 serted into the orifice of the tube. Ovary simple, superior, 1- 

 seeded ; styles 1 or 2, emarginate at the apex. Fiuit a mem- 

 branous utricle, enclosed within the hardened calyx. Seed 

 pendulous ; albumen mealy. Small diffusely branched plants. 

 Leaves opposite, without stipules. Flowers small. 



SCLERANTHUS. Linn. Knawel. 



(From the Greek oxATjpoj, hard, and av9os t a. flower ; in allusion to the indu- 

 rated nature of the floral covering.) 



Calyx 5-cleft, persistent ; tube urceolate. Petals none. Sta- 

 mens 10, rarely 5 or 2. Styles 2. Capsule very smooth, with- 

 out valves, covered by the indurated tube of the calyx. 



S 1 . annuus Linn. : stems spreading, slightly pubescent ; flowers decan- 

 drous; calyx of the fruit spreading, acute. 



Sandy fields. N. S. July. (J). Stems numerous, much branched in a di- 

 chotomous manner, forming tufts 3 6 inches in diameter. Leaves linear-sub- 

 ulate, scarious and dilated at base. Flowers very small, green, in axillary leafy 

 clusters. Introduced ? Annual Knawel. 



ORDER LIII. CRASSULACEJ3. HOUSE-LEEKS. 



Sepals 3 20, more or less united at the base. Petals as 

 many as the sepals, distinct or cohering. Stamens as many or 

 twice as many as the petals. Pistils always equal in number 

 to the sepals, distinct or partly united. Carpels follicular, usu- 

 ally several-seeded. Succulent herbs or shrubs, with simple 

 leaves and the flowers usually in cymes. 



1. TILL^EA. Ltnn. Tillaea. 



(In honor of Mich. Aug. Tilli ; an Italian botanist, who died in 1740.) 

 Sepals 3 4, united at base. Petals 3 4, oblong, acuminate. 

 Stamens 3 4. Carpels 3 4, distinct, opening by the inner 

 suture, many-seeded. 



T. simplex Nutt. : stem diffusely branching from the base and rooting ; 

 the branches ascending ; leaves linear-oblong, connate, rather obtuse ; 

 flowers solitary, nearly sessile ; petals twice as long as the sepals. 



Muddy banks of streams. N. Y. Conn, and Penn. July, Aug. (I). Stems 

 13 inches loner. Leaves &3 lines long, spreading. Flow, very minute, 

 white. Carped 8 10-seeded. Pigmy Weed 



6 



