CARYOPHYLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY) 



381 







Var. texana Robinson. More rigid ; leaves shorter (6-10 mm. long), chiefly 

 near the base ; cymes rather dense ; sepals attenuate, rigid. (A. texana Brit- 

 ton.) Rocky hills, s. Mo. to Kan. and Tex. 



9. A. verna L., var. propinqua (Richards.) Fernald. Dwarf, tufted or loosely 

 matted, 2-12 cm. high, glandular-puberulent ; leaves awl-shaped, somewhat 

 triquetrous ; stems chiefly 2-5-flowered ; sepals rather abruptly acuminate, com- 

 monly longer than the oblong or spatulate often inconspicuous petals. (A. 

 propinqua Richards. ; A. verna, var. hirta auth., in part.) Limestone or ser- 

 pentine rocks and barrens, Lab., e. Que., Smuggler's Notch, Vt. (Pringle, 

 Egglcstori), north w. and \vestw. 



10. A. caroliniana Walt. (PINE-BARREN S.) Densely tufted from a deep 

 perpendicular root ; leaves closely imbricated, but spreading, awl-shaped, pun- 

 gent, short, channeled ; branches naked and minutely glandular above, several- 

 flowered ; sepals obtuse, ovate, shorter than the pod. (A. squarrosa Michx.) 

 In pure sand, s. New York, N. J., and south w. along the coast. May-July. 



11. A. groenlandica (Retz.) Spreng. (MOUNTAIN S.) Densely tufted from 

 slender roots ; stems filiform (5-20 cm. high), erect ; leaves linear, obtuse, flac- 

 cid ; petals obovate, commonly retuse, about twice as long as the oblong nerve- 

 less sepals. Greenl., Lab., ints. of N. E., N. Y., and higher A lleghenies to N. C. ; 

 also coast of N. S. and Me. ; Middletown, Ct., etc. June-Sept. An apetalous 

 form occurs. 



5. STELLARIA L. CHICKWEED. STARWORT 



Sepals 4-5. Petals (white) 4-5, deeply 2-cleft, sometimes none. Stamens 

 8, 10, or fewer. Styles 3, rarely 4 or 5, opposite as many sepals. Pod ovoid, 

 1-celled, opening by twice as many valves as there are styles, several-many- 

 seeded. Seeds naked. Flowers solitary or cymose, terminal or appearing 

 lateral by the prolongation of the stem from the upper axils. (Name from stella, 

 a star, in allusion to the star-shaped flowers.) ALSINEL. in part, not Wahlenb. 



Stems and flower-stalks glabrous. 

 Petals distinctly shorter than the sepals or none. 

 Leaves lanceolate. 



Flowers axillary or in leafy -bracted cymes 1. S. borealis. 



Flowers chiefly in short lateral scaly-bracted cymes 2. S. uliginosa. 



Leaves spatulate 3. S.fontinaUs. 



Petals equaling or exceeding the sepals. 

 Flowers axillary, solitary, or in leafy-bracted cymes. 

 Leaves lanceolate. 



Leaves of soft texture, flat or nearly so. 



Mature sepals 3-4 mm. long, two thirds as long as the pod . 4. S. craasifolia. 



Mature sepals less than 3 mm. long, half the length of the pod . 1. S. boreatis. 



Leaves of firm texture, carinate 7. S. longipes. 



Leaves elliptic-ovate 5. S. humifusa. 



Flowers cymose ; bracts small, scale-like. 



Petals 8-12 mm. long ; leaves linear, glaucous 6. S. glauca. 



Petals 3-6 mm. long. 



Lower pedicels erect, elongated ; fruit blackish 7. S. longipes. 



Lower pedicels deflexed, arcuate ; fruit pale. 

 Leaves linear or nearly so ; inflorescence lateral . . . 8. S. longifolia. 



Leaves lanceolate ; inflorescence terminal 9. S. graminea. 



Stems and flower-stalks pubescent. 

 Leaves narrowlv lanceolate. 



Flower 1 cm. in diameter ; fruit blackish, on erect pedicels . . 7. S. longipes. 



Flower 2 cm. in diameter ; fruit straw-colored, on nodding pedicels . . 10. S. Ilolonted. 



Leaves elliptical, chiefly sessile 11. 8. pitbera. 



Leaves ovate, the lower on petioles of nearly their own length. 



Styles 3-4 ; pods narrowlv ovoid, subcyliiidric 12. S. media. 



Styles 5 ; pods broadly ovoid 13. 8. aquatica. 



1. S. borealis Bigel. Stems flaccid, many times forked, at length resolved into 

 a leafy cyme ; leaves bright green, rather broadly lanceolate ; petals 2-5, minute, 

 or none ; sepals acute ; styles usually 4 ; seeds smoothish. (Alsine Britton.) 

 Shaded or wet places, Nfd. and Lab. to Alaska, s. to N. J., Pa., Mich., Minn., 

 Col., and Cal. (Eu.) 



2. S. uliginbsa Murr. Stems weak, decumbent or diffuse, at length pro- 

 longed, leaving the naked and usually sessile cymes lateral ; leaves lanceolate or 



