380 CARYOPHYLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY) 



seeded. Low usually tufted herbs, with sessile exstipulate leaves and small 

 white flowers. (Name from arena, sand, in which many of the species grow.) 



The following sections are by many botanists taken for genera. 



1. MOEHRlNGIA (L.) Fries. Ovary at first ^-celled; seeds few, smooth, 

 with a thickish appendage at the hilum ; perennials with broadish leaves. 



1. A. lateriflbra L. Sparingly branched, minutely pubescent ; leaves oval 

 or oblong, obtuse (1-2 cm. long) ; peduncles 2(rarely ii-4) -flowered, soon be- 

 coming lateral ; sepals oblong, obtuse. (Moehringia Fenzl.) Gravelly shores, 

 thickets, etc., Nfd. to Pa., Mo., and northw. May, June. (Eu.) 



2. A. macrophylla Hook. Similar; leaves lance-oblong, acute; sepals 

 lanceolate, acuminate. (Moehringia Torr.) N. Guilford and Durham, Ct. 

 (G. H. Bartlett, Harger), Vt., Lab., L. Superior, and north westw. 



2. AMMODENIA (Patrin) B. & H. Styles, cells of the ovary and valves of 

 the fleshy pod 3, rarely 4 or 5 ; seeds few, smooth, short-beaked at the naked 

 hilum; disk under the ovary more prominent than usual, glandular, 10- 

 lobed ; flowers almost sessile in the axils, sometimes dioecious or polyga- 

 mous ; perennial. 



3. A. peploides L. Stems (simple or forking from long rootstocks) and 

 ovate partly clasping leaves (1.5-2 cm. long) very fleshy. (Ammodenia Rupr.) 



Sea-shore, N. J. to Me. and northw. June. (Eu.) 



3. ARENARIA proper. Pod splitting wholly or part way down into 3 or at 

 length 6 valves; seeds many, naked at the hilum. 



4. A. SERPYLLIFOLIA L. (THYME-LEAVED S.) Roughish-pubesccnt or pu- 

 berulent, 5-15 cm. high ; leaves ovate, small, acute ; cymes leafy ; sepals lanceo- 

 late, pointed, 3-5-nerved, about equaling the petals ; capsule flask-shaped, of 

 firm texture. Sandy or rocky soil, chiefly about towns. June-Aug. (Nu't. 

 from Eu.) 



5. A. LEPTOCLADOS Guss. Similar to the preceding ; leaves lanceolate ; 

 cymes nearly naked ; capsule subcylindric, papery. (A. serpyllifolia, var. ten- 

 uior Koch.) Locally, Me. to Mich. (Farwell), and westw. (Adv. from Eu.) 



4. ALSiNE (Gaertn.) B. & H. Pod splitting to the base into 3 entire valcr* ,- 

 seeds many, usually rough, naked at the hilum ; flowers terminal or cy- 

 mose ; leaves linear or subulate. 



Sepals lanceolate, acuminate. 

 Lateral nerves of the leaves none or much smaller than the midnerve. 



Petals re tuse 6. A.patula. 



Petals entire. 



Capsule longer and petals shorter than the sepals . . 7. A. litorea. 



Capsule shorter and petals much longer than the sepals ... 8. A.ftfricta. 



Leaves with 8 nearly equal nerves 9. A. verna, v. j>rjii>i<jii(i. 



Sepals obtuse or obtusish, inconspicuously veined, not nerved. 



Leaves rigid, pungent ; petals entire 10. A. carol in num. 



Leaves soft, herbaceous ; petals usually retuse 11. A. groenlamlim. 



6. A. patula Michx. Diffusely branched from a slender root; stems 5- 

 30 cm. long ; branches of the cyme divergent ; peduncles long ; sepals JlVm-rved. 



Ky. to n. 111., Minn., and southw. to Tex. and Fla. 



7. A. litorea Fernald. Perennial, densely tufted; stems several to many, 

 6-14 cm. high, leafy chiefly toward the base ; leaves firm, subulate, commonly 

 proliferous in the axils ; sepals 3-nerved ; capsule 5 mm. long, well erx<Ttl \\\ 

 maturity. Gravelly beaches and calcareous bluffs, e. Que. ; and north shore of 

 L. Superior (Lor ing, G. S. Miller). 



8. A. strfcta Michx. Erect or diffusely spreading from a small root, smooth ; 

 leaves slender, between awl-shaped and Itristlt'-fnrnt. "//// many nthm clustered 

 in the axils; cyme diffuse, naked, many-tloweml ; .sv/nr/.s : > >-/-/7>//r</. ovate. (A. 

 Michauxii Honk, f.) Rocks and dry wooded banks, Mt. Washington, X. 11. 

 (Manning) ; Vt. to S. C., Minn., westw. and south westw. July. 



