148 CARYOPHYLLACEAE. 



Stellaria crispa Cham. & Schlccht. Perennial, glabrous; stems weak, 

 decumbent or prostrate, 10-30 cm. long, simple or with but few branches; 

 leaves thin, ovate, acuminate, 8-12 mm. long, entire or crisped on the margin, 

 very short-pctioled; pedicels slender, 6-20 mm. long; sepals lanceolate, 3- 

 nervcd, very acute, with a narrow scarious margin; petals deeply cleft but 

 usually wanting; capsule acutish, exceeding the sepals. 



In moist woods, common. 



Stellaria washingtoniana Robinson. Annual; stems slender, decumbent, 

 leafy, not much branched, pubescent; leaves ovate, acute, ver>' short-petioled, 

 thin, about 8 mm. long, glabrous or pubescent, 1-nerved, ciliate near the base; 

 peduncles 1 cm. long, spreading, 1-flowered; calyx pubescent, the sepals ovate, 

 2-3 mm. long, obtusish, faintly 3-nerved; petals none. 



In deciduous woods; Nisqually River, Allen; Lake Cushman, Piper. 



183. SAGINA. Pearlwort. 



Small matted herbs with thread-like or awl-shaped leaves; 

 stipules none; flowers small, terminating the stem and the 

 branches; sepals 4 or 5; petals 4 or 5, or often none; stamens as 

 many as or twice as many as the sepals; styles as many as the 

 sepals and alternate with them; pod many-seeded, 4-5-valved. 



Species very difficult to define. 



Herbage glandular-puberulent. 5. apetala. 

 Herbage glabrous. 



Stems slender; leaves scarcely fleshy. 5. occidentalis. 



Stems rather stout; leaves fleshy. ^S. crassicatdis. 



Sagina apetala barbata Fenzl. {S. ciliata (Greene) Piper.) Very slender, 

 erect, 3-5 cm. high, minutely glandular-pubescent; leaves linear, ciliolate at 

 their broadened bases. 



In dry ground, rare. 



Sagina occidentalis Wats. Glabrous, the slender decumbent stems 5-12 

 cm. high; leaves linear, very acute, 6-10 mm. long; peduncles 15-25 mm. long; 

 sepals subacute, 2.5 mm. long, shorter than the capsule; petals shorter than 

 the sepals. 



Common in springy ground. 



Sagina crassicaulis Wats. Distinctly fleshy; stems rather stout; leaves 

 5-20 mm. long; calyx 3 mm. long, shorter than the capsule. 

 Along the seashore. Scarcely different from 5. occidentalis. 



184. AMMODENIA. 



Stout fleshy perennial seashore plants with clasping thick 

 leaves; flowers axillary; disk conspicuous, 10-lobed, glandulif- 

 erous; styles 3-5; capsule globose, somewhat berry-like. 



Ammodenia peploides (L.) Rupr. Perennial, very fleshy, glabrous, 10-30 

 cm. high; leaves obovate or ovate, partly clasping; flower axillary, nearly 

 sessile; sepals ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 7 mm. long; seeds smooth. 



Along the seashore. Scarcely distinguishable is A. peploides major (Hook.) 

 Piper, somewhat taller with larger somewhat apiculate leaves. 



