ELATINACE.E. (WATER-WORT FAMILY.) 91 



tuberculate; otherwise like the last. — Ark. to Tex. and westward ; reported 

 from Kau., Iowa, and Minn. 



2. P. pil6sa, L. Ascending or spreading, copiously hairy in the axila ; 

 leaves linear-subulate, nearly terete, 3 - 6" long ; petals red or purple. — Kan. 

 to Tex., etc. 



2. TALINUM, Adaus. 



Sepals 2, distinct and free, deciduous Petals .5, ephemeral. Stamens 10- 

 30. Style 3-lobed at the apex. Pod 3-celled at the base when young, 3-valved, 

 with many seeds on a globular stalked placenta. (Derivation obscure.) 



1. T. teretifblium, Pursh. Perennial; leafy stems low, tuberous at 

 base; leaves linear, cylindrical; peduncle long (3-6') and naked, bearing an 

 open cyme of pink flowers (§' broad); stamens 15-20. — Serpentine rocka, 

 Penu., to lnd.,Miim., and southward. Juue- Aug. 



3. CLAYTONIA, Gronov. Spring-Beauty. 



Sepals 2, ovate, free, persistent. Stamens .5, adhering to tlie short claws of 

 the petals. Style 3-cleft at the apex. Pod 1-celled, 3-valved, 3- 6-seeded. — 

 Our two species are perennials, sending up simple stems in early spring from 

 a small deep tuber, bearing a pair of opposite leaves, and a loose raceme of 

 pretty flowers. Corolla rose-color with deeper veins, opening for more than 

 one day ! (Named in honor of Dr John Clai/ton, one of our earliest botanists, 

 who contributed to Gronovius the materials for the Flora Virginica.) 



1. C. Virginica, L. Leaves linear-lanceolate, elongated (3- G' long). — 

 Moist open woods ; common, especially westward and southward. 



2. C. Caroliniana, Michx. Flowers rather smaller and fewer ; leave3 

 epatulate-oblong or oval-lanceolate (1-2' long). — Maine to Minn., and south- 

 ward along the Alleghanies. 



Order 17. ELATINACE^. (Water-wort Family.) 



Liltlc 7?ia?\s/i annuals, icilh membranaceous stipules between the opposite 

 dotless leaves, minute axillan/ flowers like those of the duckweeds, but the 

 pod 2-5-celledj and the seeds as in St. John's-wort. The principal genus is 



1. ELATINE, L. Wati:u-wokt. 



Sepals 2-4, persistent. Petals 2-4, hypogynous. Stamens as many, rarely 

 twice as many, as the petals. Styles, or sessile capitate stigma.^, 2-4. Pod 

 membranaceous, globose, 2-4-celled, several -many -seeded, 2-4-valved; the 

 partitions left attached to the axis, or evanescent. Seeds cylindrical, straight- 

 ish or curved, marked by both longitudinal and transverse lines. — Dwarf gla- 

 brous plants, usually rooting at the nodes, juiuatic or terrestrial. (A Greek 

 name for some obscure herb.) 



1. E. Americana, Am. Tufted, r high; leaves obovate, obtuse, 1-3" 

 long ; flowers sessile, rarely opening in the aquatic form ; sepals, petals, sta- 

 mens, and stigmas 2, rarely 3 ; seeds 5 or 6 in each cell, rising from the base, 

 marked by 9 or 10 longitudinal lines and 20-30 crossbars. — Margin of ponds, 



