422 ALSINACEAE 



b. Leaf-blades, at least those of the upper leaves, sessile. 



Seeds smooth. 4. A.longifolia. 

 Seeds rough. 



Sepals obtuse : petals longer than the sepals. 5. A . pubera. 



Sepals acute or acuminate : petals about as long as the sepals. 6. A. Tennesseensis. 



B. Corolla wanting. 7. A. fontinalis. 



1. Alsine aqudtica (L. ) Britton. Perennial, stout. Stem erect or ascending, 2-6 dm. 

 tall, angled, forking above, usually villous and more or less glandular above : leaves few ; 

 blades ovate or oblong-ovate, sometimes ovate-lanceolate, 3-6 mm. long, acute or acuminate 

 at the apex, truncate or cordate at the base, the upper ones sessile, the lower ones petioled : 

 pedicels 2-3 cm. long, glandular-pilose like the calyx : sepals ovate, 4-5 mm. long, obtuse, 

 scarious-margined : petals 1^-2 times as long as the sepals, 2-cleft, the segments linear : 

 capsules slightly longer than the sepals : seeds tuberculate. 



In woods and waste places, Ontario and British Columbia, and in the eastern states to Pennsyl- 

 vania and Louisiana. Spring and summer. 



2. Alsine media L. Annual or sometimes perennial, glabrous or nearly so. Stem 

 much branched, prostrate, sometimes creeping, 1-3 dm. long, forking : leaves opposite ; 

 blades ovate, 0.5-2 cm. long, acute ; petioles longer than the blades or shorter : flowers 

 slender-pedicelled : sepals oblong-lanceolate, 3-4 mm. long, rather obtuse : petals shorter 

 than the sepals, 2-parted nearly to the base, the segments linear-oblong, obtuse : stamens 

 shorter than the petals : capsules elliptic or oval, about as long as the sepals : seeds flattened, 

 about 1 mm. broad. 



In all situations throughout North America, except the extreme north, mainly naturalized from 

 Europe. Almost universally distributed. Throughout the year. CHIOKWEED. 



3. Alsine Baldwin!! Small. Annual, slender, pubescent or nearly glabrous. 

 Stem diffusely branched, the branches prostrate, 1-6 dm. long, forking : leaves usually 

 numerous ; blades ovate, semetimes as broad as long, 0.5-2 cm. long, acute or acuminate, 

 truncate or cordate ; petioles longer than the blades except those of the upper leaves : pedi- 

 cels filiform, 1-3 cm. long : sepals ovate, 2-3 mm. long : petals about twice as long as the 

 sepals : capsules ovoid, surpassing the sepals : seeds 1 mm. long, minutely tuberculate, 

 especially on the edges. [Stellaria prostrata Baldw. , not Alsine prostrata Forsk.] 



In moist and shaded soil and rocky woods, Georgia to Texas and Florida. Also in Mexico. Spring. 



4. Alsine longifolia (Muhl.) Britton. Annual or perennial, glabrous or nearly so. 

 Stem commonly simple below the inflorescence, 1.5-4.5 dm. long, erect or reclining, some- 

 times rough-angled : leaves relatively few ; blades narrowly linear to narrowly linear-lan- 

 ceolate, 1.5-7 cm. long, or often reduced to scales at the base of the stem : cymes becoming 

 widely branched : sepals lanceolate, about 3 mm. long, acute, 3-nerved : petals as long as 

 the sepals or somewhat longer : capsules oblong-ovoid, about twice as long as the sepals : 

 seeds smooth and shining. 



In swamps and low meadows, Nova Scotia to Alaska, Maryland, Louisiana, the Rocky Mountain 

 region and British Columbia. Spring and summer. 



5. Alsine pulpera (Michx. ) Britton. Perennial, sparingly pilose or glabrate. Stem 

 more or less diffusely branched at the base, the branches erect or decumbent, 1-3 dm. 

 long, forking, accompanied later in the season by long sterile shoots bearing large leaves : 

 leaf-blades ovate, oblong or elliptic, or the lower ones sometimes spatulate, 1-4 cm. long, 

 or those on shoots 5-10 cm. long, obtuse or acute, usually ciliate, sessile or nearly so : 

 pedicels 1-3 cm. long : sepals ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 5-7 mm. long, obtuse : petals 

 slightly longer than the sepals, cleft to the middle or nearly to the base, the segments acut- 

 ish : capsules globose-ovoid, 3-4 mm. long, much shorter than the sepals : seeds nearly 1.5 

 mm. long. 



In woods, Pennsylvania to Indiana, middle Georgia and Alabama. Spring. 



6. Alsine Temiesseensis (Mohr) Small. Perennial, bright green. Stem more or less 

 branched at the base, the branches tufted, decumbent, 1-3 dm. long, pubescent in liness 

 forked, the shoots bearing leaves somewhat larger than those of the main plant : leaf- 

 blades ciliate, the lower ones with long petioles, oval or suborbicnlar, acute or short- 

 acuminate, upper leaves short-petioled or sessile, elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, 3-5 

 cm. long : calyx over 2 cm. broad, long-pedicelled : sepals lanceolate, 1 cm. long, acumi- 

 nate, the outer ones fringed with long cilia : petals about as long as the sepals, cleft to 

 below the middle : capsules 4-5 mm. long. [A. pubera Tennesseensis Mohr.] 



In rocky woods, Kentucky to Alabama. Spring. 



7. Alsine fontinklis (Short & Peter) Britton. Annual, glabrous. Stem much 

 branched, the branches spreading, 1-3 dm. long, forking : leaves few ; blades linear-spatu- 

 late, 0.5-2 cm. long, obtusish, sessile: pedicels solitary, filiform, 1.5-3 cm. long: sepals 

 oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 2.5 mm. long, acute, 3-nerved : petals wanting : stamens 4-8 : 



