138 Aizoaceae 



Family 27. AIZOACEAE. CARPET-WEED FAMILY. 



Ours herbs very succulent, except Mollugo, with op- 

 posite or verticillate leaves. Calyx 5-lobed, herbaceous 

 or petaloid, the tube adnate or free from the ovary. 

 Petals numerous or wanting. Stamens 3-many, with 

 slender filaments inserted on the calyx-tube. Styles 

 3-20. Fruit a capsule, 3-20-celled, dehiscence various. 

 Seeds numerous, minute ; embryo annular ; endosperm 

 scanty or copious. 



Ovary free from the calyx; petals none. 



Sepals 5; capsule 3-valved; leaves not succulent. 



1. MOLLUGO. 

 Calyx-lobes 5, petaloid; capsule circumscissile; succulent. 



2. SESOVIUM. 

 Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary; petals and stamens numerous. 



3. MESBMBRIANTHEMDM. 



1. MOLLUGO L. CARPET- WEED. 



Annuals, ours prostrate, glabrous, much-branched, with 

 verticillate stipulate leaves. Stipules scarious, mem- 

 branous, deciduous. Flowers axillary on long slender 

 pedicels. Calyx 5-parted, persistent ; sepals scarious- 

 margined. Petals none. Stamens 3-5. Ovary ovoid 

 or globose, 3-celled. Capsule 3-celled, 3-valved, loculici- 

 dally dehiscent. 



1. M. verticillata L. Stem much branched, prostrate, 10-20 

 cm. long, glabrous, not succulent; leaves in whorls of 5's or 6's, 

 spatulate to linear-lanceolate, entire, obtuse, 10-25 mm. long, 

 narrowed to a short petiole; flowers 1.5-2 mm. broad; sepals 

 oblong, slightly shorter than the ovoid capsule; capsule rough- 

 ened by the projecting seeds; seeds minute, smooth and shining 

 or slightly granular. 



Growing in damp places near borders of pools. Garvanza, Davidson; 

 Laguna, Orange County. 



2. SESUVIUM L. SEA PURSLANE. 



Stems prostrate or decumbent, fleshy with opposite ex- 

 stipulate leaves. Flowers solitary in the axils, sessile or 



