98 ELATINACE. ELATINE. 
; BERGIA. 
or compound scorpioid spikes. Sepals 2, mostly unequal, ovate 
or orbicular, more or less scarious.- Petals 2-4. Stamens 1-3, 
shorter than the petals and alternate with them. Capsule mem- 
branaceous 2-valved, 6-12-seeded. Seeds black and shining, cir- 
cinate, compressed, on filiform funiculi of unequal length, rising 
from the base of the cell. 7 
C. roseum Watson Bot. King 44 t. 6. figs. 6-8. Diffusely branched: 
stems decumbent, 1-3 inches long: leaves oblong-spatulate, attenuate at 
the base: sepals very unequal, nearly orbicular, 1-3 lines broad: petals 
minute, rounded-oblong: capsule oblong-ovate, shorter than the calyx: 
style very short. Southeastern Oregon to Nevada and California. 
Orpver XIII. ELATINACEA Lindl. Nat. Syst. ed. 2, 88. 
Low annuals with opposite dotless membranous stipulate 
leaves, regular and symmetrical flowers with hypogynous pet- 
als and, stamens and distinct styles bearing capitate stigmas. 
Sepals 2-5 distinct, persistent. Petals as many as the sepals » 
and alternate with them. Stamens as many or twice as 
many as the petals. Ovary 2—5-celled. Capsule 2-5-valved, 
crowned with the persistent styles or stigmas: placentz in the 
axis. Seeds anatropous cylindrical with crustaceous coat and 
little or no albumen. : 
1. Elatine. Parts of the flowers each 2-4, sepals obtuse. 
2. Bergia. Parts of the flowers each 5, sepals acute. 
1 ELATINE L. Gen. n. 502. 
Small prostrate glabrous annuals, growing in water or wet 
places with entire leaves and solitary flowers. Sepals 2-4, mem- 
branaceous, obtuse, nerveless. Petals as many as sepals: Stam- 
ens as many or twice as many as petals. Styles 2,3 or 4. Ovary 
globose, with the placente in the axis, many-ovuled. Capsule 
membranaceous 2—4-celled, the partitions remaining attached to 
the axis or evanescent. : 
E. Americana Arnott Edinb. Journ. Sci. i, 430. Low and depressed, 
1-6 inches in diameter, rooting at the nodes: leaves obovate, very obtuse: 
flowers sessile, purplish: seeds cylindrical, slightly curved, about one- 
third of a line long, very minutely pitted in 9 or- 10 longitudinal lines. 
Lower Columbia river bottoms; also in the Eastern States. 
E. Californiea Gray Proc. Am. Acad. xiii, 361. Floating: leaves obo- 
vate, attenute at base, the lower with a petiole not longer than the blade: 
flowers shortly pedicellate, with 3 or 4 sepals and petals and twice as 
many stamens: seeds circinate-incurved nearly one-third of a line long, 
minutely pitted in 10 or 12 lines. In Sierra valley, California; Spokane 
Falls, Washington. 
2 BERGIA L. Mant. n. 1809. 
Branching and often pubescent nearly erect annuals with en- 
tire or serrate leaves and fascicled or solitary flowers. Sepals 5, 
with a strong midnerve or herbaceous in the middle, acute. 
Ovary ovoid. Capsule subcrustaceous, 5-valved, more or less 
of the partitions in dehiscence remaining with the axis. 
