FIG MARIGOLD FAMILY. 199 



# * Erect, shrubby, or tree-like, cultivated in conservatories from W. 

 Indies and S. America ; berry edible. 



O. Ficus-Indica, Haw. Joints obovate, thick and heavy, 1 long, 

 with minute spines or none ; berry obovate, bristly. 



2. Stamens longer than the erect crimson petals, shorter than the style. 



0. coccinellifera, Mill. Tree-like, G-10 high, with joints of the 

 branches obovate-oblong, 4'-12' long, spineless or nearly so, when young 

 with single recurved spines, pale ; berry red. One of the plants upon 

 which the cochineal insect feeds, whence the name. Sometimes cult. 

 Mex. and W. Indies. 



LIII. FICOIDE^l, FIG MAEIGOLD FAMILY. 



Mostly fleshy herbs, generally with opposite or whorled 

 leaves and no stipules, very closely allied to the Pink and 

 Purslane Families ; differing in apetalous (in ours) flowers, 

 the 2- or more-celled capsule which is 2-several-seeded, the 

 stamens generally numerous (not so in ours), and seeds with 

 a slender curved embryo. A heterogeneous family, repre- 

 sented in gardens by the ICE PLANTS (of which the common 

 one is MESEMBRYAISTTHEMUM CRYSTALLINUM) and the FIG 

 MARIGOLDS, of the same genus. 



1. SESUVIUM. Calyx 5-lobed, petal-like. Stamens 5 (in ours) on the calyx. Styles 



3-5. Capsule circumscissile. 



2. MOLLUGrO. Calyx of 5 separate sepals. Stamens 3-5, hypogynous. Stigmas 3. Cap- 



sule 8-valved. 



3. TETEAGGNIA. Calyx 4-lobed. Stamens (in ours) in clusters. Styles and 1-ovuled 



cells few. Fruit hard and nut-like, horned, 3-8-seeded. 



1. SESUVIUM, SEA PURSLANE. (Name unexplained.) Prostrate, 

 succulent, seaside herbs. 



S. pentdndrum, Ell. Leaves oblong- or obovate-spatulate, obtuse ; 

 flowers axillary or terminal, sessile, small. Plants procumbent or some- 

 times partially 'erect. Seacoast, N. J., S. 



2. MOLLUGO, INDIAN CHICK WEED. (Ancient name.) Low, 

 weed-like plants with the habit of CHICK WE ED, and sometimes referred 

 to the Pink Family. 



M. verticillata, Linn. CARPET WEED. Prostrate and forming flat 

 patches on the ground, not succulent ; the small, spatulate leaves are 

 clustered or whorled, and the 1-flowered pedicels foriri an umbel-like 

 cluster ; flowers small and whitish. About cult, grounds. Tropics. 



3. TETRAGONIA. (Name Greek for four-angled, from shape of the 

 fruit.) Low, spreading herbs, with broad and flat, thickish leaves, and 

 small flowers in their axils. 



T. expdnsa, Ait. NEW ZEALAND SPINACH. Occasionally cult, as a 

 Spinach ; leaves pale, triangular, or rhombic-ovate, with short margined 

 petioles. (|) 



