ALSINACEAE. 



131 



2. Arenaria lanuginosa (Michx.) Eohrb. 

 Diffuse Starwort. Stickweed. (Fig. 153.) 

 Perennial, slender. Stems branched at the base, 

 the branches spreading, l°-4° long, forking, 

 more or less pubescent with hooked hairs ; leaves 

 narrowly elliptic or linear-spatulate, 5"-10" 

 long, acute, sessile or short-petioled; pedicels 

 filiform; sepals lanceolate, l^"-2" long, acute; 

 petals 1-5, shorter than the sepals or none; 

 capsules ovoid, about as long as the sepals 

 or longer. [Arenaria diffusa Ell.; Spergu- 

 lostrum lanuginosum Michx. ; Stellaria nemorum 

 of Lefroy and of H. B. Small; Arenaria alsi- 

 noides of Hemsley.] 



On shaded cliffs, Paynter's Vale and on bluffs 

 and sandhills, near Tucker's Town and on Castle 

 Point. Native. Southeastern United States, Ja- 

 maica, continental tropical America. Its seeds 

 probably transported to Bermuda by birds. 



5. TISSA Adans. 

 Low herbs, mostly with fleshy linear or 

 setaceous leaves, often with others clustered in 

 the axils, and small pink or whitish flowers in 

 terminal cymes. Stipules scarious. Sepals 5. 

 Petals the same number, rarely fewer, or none, 

 entire. Stamens 2-10. Ovary 1-celled, many- 

 ovuled; styles 3. Pod 3-valved to the base. Seeds reuiform-globose or com- 

 pressed, smooth, winged or tuberculate. [Name unexplained.] About 20 



species, of wide distribution, most of 

 them on saline shores or salt marshes. 

 Type species: Arenaria rubra L. 



1. Tissa marina (L.) Britton. Salt- 

 marsh Saxd Spurry. (Fig. 154.) An- 

 nual to jnerennial, erect, ascending or 

 nearly prostrate, 4'-8' high, branching. 

 Stipules ovate ; leaves linear, terete, 

 fleshy, i'-lj' long, i"-l" wide, often 

 much fascicled in the axils; pedicels 2"- 

 5" long; sepals about 3" long; capsule 

 equalling or longer than the calyx ; sccils 

 smooth, or roughened with projecting 

 processes, wingless, or winged. [Arena- 

 ria rubra marina L.] 



Salt marsh. Spittle Pond, lOii.S. N.-itivo. 

 Coasts of North America and Europe. Flow- 

 ers commence to appear in December and 

 continue throughout winter and spring. 

 Presumably brought to Bermuda through 

 the ocean, perhaps recently, as it is not 

 recorded by previous authors. 



