82 CARYOPHYLLACEjE. ALSINE. 



acuminate, 3-nerved, 2 lines long, twice longer than the deeply lobed pet- 

 als which are sometimes wanting : capsule oblong, shorter than the sepals. 

 Common in moist open places, Washington to California, east to Utah. 



-t- -t- Leaves all sessile or subsessile, sometimes narrow but not 

 acerose. 



-M- Bracts small and scarious. 

 = Flowers small : petals minute or none. 



A. baicalensis Coville Contr. Nat. Herb, iv, 70. Stellaria umbeUata 

 Turcz. Glabrous, stems very slender, ascending from slender rootstocks, 

 which are clothed with orbicular scale-like, colorless bracts : leaves spread- 

 ing, elliptical or olong-lanceolate, acute at each end, 4-8 lines long: flowers 

 in a simple or compound open umbel-like few-rayed cyme : pedicels elon- 

 gated: sepals ovate-lanceolate, 1-nerved, 1-2}^ lines long: petals none: 

 mature capsule twice longer than the calyx. Rocky Mountains to Union 

 county, Oregon, CusicJc. 



= = Flowers of medium size : petals equalling or exceeding the 



calyx. 



a Seeds essentially smooth. 



A, longifolia Britton Mem. Torr. Club v. 150. Stellaria longifolia Muhl. 

 Stems sharply 4-angled, commonly 8 inches or more in height : leaves lin- 

 ear or linear-oblong, somewhat narrowed at each end, thickish, often cili- 

 ate toward the base ; the larger ones 1-2 inches long : flowers rather 

 numerous in a lateral long-ped uncled open cyme; pedicels spreading, hori- 

 zontal or deflexed : petals and capsule exceeding the sepals : seeds smooth . 

 Idaho to Canada and Maryland. (Europe and Asia). 



A. longipes Coville Contr. Nat. Herb. iv,70. , Stellaria longipes Goldie. 

 Smooth and shining or glaucous, erect or ascending, 2-18 inches high : 

 leaves linear to linear-lanceolate, 6-12 lines long, 1-1)^ lines wide acute, 

 rather rigid and usually ascending : flowers few, on long slender erect 

 pedicels : sepals scarcely nerved l^-2j^ lines long : petals about equal- 

 ling the calyx : mature capsule longer than the calyx. . About springs etc., 

 eastern Washington to California, east to the Atlantic. 



b Seeds distinctly rugose-roughened under a lens. 



A. GBAMINEA L. Sp. 422. Stems ascending, .smooth and shining 1-2% feet 

 high, sharply 4-angled; internodes usually elongated: leaves sessile, lan- 

 ceolate or linear-lanceolate, thickish, attenuate, furrowed above and with 

 midrib prominent beneath, inflorescence a broad terminal pedunculate 

 cyme, often with one or two smaller cymes at its base ; pedicels elongated 

 spreading or deflexed : capsule exceeding the calyx: seeds rugose, rough- 

 ened. Introduced from Europe. 



A. nliginosa Britton 1. c. Stellar ia uliginosa Murr. Low, weak, dif- 

 fuse: stems numerous, leaf 3 : leaves lanceolate or elliptical-lanceolate, 

 6-8 lines long : seeds rugose roughened. Mount Rainier, Piper, to the 

 Eastern States. 



*> *+ Bracts more or less foliaceous. 



A. brachypetala. Stellaria brachypetala Bong. S. alpestris Fries S. cor- 

 ollina Fenzl. Glabrous : stems weak and slender, usually erect, 6-20 

 inches high dichotomously branched above: leaves lanceolate, attenuate, 

 the middle cauline the largest, 1-2 inches long, 1-nerved : pedicels in the 

 forks of the dichotomous branches, slender, spreading, 8-12 lines long: 

 sepals lanceolate, acute, scarious margined about a line long: petals 

 shorter than the sepals, 2-parted, the segments lanceolate, acute : capsule 

 oblong-ovoid exceeding the sepals, seeds smooth. In wet places, Oregon 

 te Alaska and the Eastern States, 



