FOUR-O'CLOCK FAMILY 261 



13. A. divaricata Rydb. Stems usually solitary, erect, 6-10 dm. high; 

 leaf-blades glabrous, linear to hnear-lanceolate, acute, 5-10 cm. long; involucres 

 numerous, in terminal cymes, about 1.5 cm. wide; lobes elhptical or oval, obtuse; 

 perianth pink, about 8 mm. wide. Sandy valleys: N.M. — Colo. — Ariz. So7i. — 

 Submont. Jl-Au. 



9. WEDELIELLA Cockerell. 



Annual or perennial prostrate herbs, with opposite petioled leaves; blades 

 entire, oblique at the base. Flowers perfect, 3 in each involucre, which is com- 

 posed of 3 sepal-like bracts united at the base. Perianth corolla-like, with a 

 short oblique tube and a 4-lobed limb. Fruit leathery, winged on each side, 

 smooth or rarely crested on the inner face and with two rows of glands on the 

 outer. Seeds filling the pericarp to which it adheres. Endosperm mealy. 

 Stamens 4; filaments slender. [Wedelia Loeffl. AUionia L., in part.] 



1. W. incarnata (L.) Cockerell. Perennial; stem diffusely branched at the 

 base, prostrate, 1-5 dm. long; leaf-blades thick, ovate or oblong, 1-3 cm. long, 

 undulate; bracts of the involucre oval or orbicular, 4-6 mm. long, reticulate, 

 cihate; calyx rose or white, 5-6 mm. long; fruit 3-4 mm. long. AUionia incarnata 

 L. Wedelia incarnata {lj.)Km\ize. Vallej's: Tex. — Colo. — Utah — Ariz.; Mex.; 

 Trop. Am., and S. Am. Son. My-N. 



Family 41. TETRAGONIACEAE. Carpet-weed Faaiily. 



More or less succulent herbs, with opposite or whorled leaves. Flowers 

 in ours perfect, regular. Sepals 4 or 5. Corolla wanting in our species. 

 Stamens 4 or 5, or many, hypogynous. Gynoecium of 2 or more united 

 carpels; ovary 2-several-celled or by reduction 1-celled, superior or partly 

 inferior; styles as many as the cells of the ovary. Fruit a circumscissile or 

 loculicidal capsule. 



Hypanthium wanting; capsule loculicidal: leaves whorled. , 1. MOLLUGO. 



Hypanthium manifest; capsule circumscissile; leaves opposite. 2. Sesuvium. 



1. MOLLUGO L. Indian Chickweed, Carpet-weed. 



Annual herbs, with verticillate leaves and hyaline stipules. Flowers perfect, 

 in axillary clusters, cymes, or racemes, pedicelled, usually white. Sepals 5, per- 

 sistent, with hyaline margins. Stamens 3, opposite the angles of the ovary, or 

 5, alternating with the sepals; filaments filiform or subulate. Ovary 3-5-celled, 

 superior; styles 3-5, distinct; stigmas entire. Capsule 3-5-valved. 



1. M. verticillata L. Annual; stem branched at the base, prostrate, 0.5-3 

 dm. long; leaves in whorls of 4-8, short-petioled; blades unequal, spatulate 

 to Imear-oblanceolate , 1-3 cm. long, entire; sepals 2 mm. long, oblong, with white 

 margins; capsule oblong or oval, 4-5 mm. long. Waste places and cultivated 

 ground: Ont.—Fla.— Tex.— Calif.— Wash.; Mex.; W. Ind., C. Am., and S. Am. 

 Plain — Son. Ja-D. 



2. SESUVIUM L. Sea Purslane. 



Annual or perennial herbs or shrubby plants, with fleshy opposite leaves, 

 without stipules. Flowers axillary. Hypanthium in ours turbinate. Sepals 

 5, usually horned on the back near the tip. Stamens 1-many, perigynous. 

 Ovary 3-5-celled, half-inferior; styles 3-5, distinct, filiform; ovules numerous. 

 Fruit a circumscissile capsule; seeds several or many in each cavity. 



1. S. sessile Pers. Perennial, with a thick root; stems diffuse, branched at 

 the base, prostrate or ascending, 1-8 dm. long; leaf-blades spatulate or oblance- 

 olate, 1-3 cm. long; sepals ovate-oblong, 8-10 mm. long; stamens many; capsule 

 oblong, 6 mm. long. River banks and saline plains: Wyo. — Kans. — Tex. — ■ 

 Calif.; Mex. and S. Axn. Son. Ap-N. 



