GENUS 2. 



CARPET-WEED FAMILY. 



35 



2. MOLLUGO L. Sp. PI. 89. 1753. 



Herbs, mostly annual, much branched, with verticillate, or in some species basal or 

 alternate leaves, and small cymose or axillary whitish flowers. Stipules scarious, mem- 

 branous, deciduous. Calyx 5-parted. Sepals persistent, scarious-margined. Petals none. 

 Stamens 3-5, when 3 alternate with the cells of the ovary, when 5 alternate with the sepals. 

 Ovary ovoid or globose, usually 3-celled. Capsule usually 3-celled, 3-valved, loculicidally 

 dehiscent. Seeds small, the testa smooth, granular or sculptured. 



About 12 species, most of them of tropical distribution. Besides the following typical one, 

 another occurs in the Southwestern States. 



i. Mollugo verticillata L. Carpet- 

 weed. Fig. 1735. 



Mollugo verticillata L. Sp. PI. 



1753- 



Prostrate, glabrous, not fleshy, much 

 branched, spreading on the ground and 

 forming patches sometimes 20' in diameter. 

 Leaves verticillate, in 5*3 or 6's, spatulate, 

 obovate or linear, entire, obtuse, 6"-i2" long, 

 narrowed into a petiole ; flowers axillary, less 

 than i" broad; pedicels filiform; sepals ob- 

 long, slightly shorter than the ovoid capsule, 

 which appears roughened by the projecting 

 seeds ; seeds renif orm, usually smooth and 

 shining. 



In waste places and cultivated grounds, New 

 Brunswick and Ontario to Minnesota, Washing- 

 ton, Florida, Texas and Mexico. Native of the 

 warmer parts of America, now widely distrib- 

 uted as a weed. Also called Indian chickweed. 

 Devil's-grip. May-Sept. 



Family 22. 



1828. 



PORTULACACEAE Reichenb. Consp. 161. 



PURSLANE FAMILY. 



Herbs, generally fleshy or succulent, rarely somewhat woody, with alternate 

 or opposite leaves, and regular perfect but unsymmetrical flowers. Sepals com- 

 monly 2 (rarely 5). Petals 4 or 5, rarely more, hypogynous, entire or emarginate, 

 imbricated. Stamens hypogynous, equal in number to the petals or fewer, rarely 

 more ; filaments filiform ; anthers 2-celled, longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary i-celled ; 

 style 2-3-cleft or 2-3-divided, the divisions stigmatic on the inner side; ovules 

 2-00, amphitropous. Capsule membranous or crustaceous, circumscissile, or 

 dehiscent by 3 valves. Seeds 2-00, reni form-globose or compressed; embryo 

 curved. 



About 180 species, mostly natives of America. 

 Calyx free from the ovary ; capsule 3-valved. 

 Seeds numerous ; stamens S-QO- 

 Seeds not more than 6 ; stamens 2-5. 

 Perennials ; petals distinct. 



Plants with corms or thick rootstocks. 

 Plants with bulblet-bearing runners. 

 Mostly annuals ; roots fibrous ; petals united at the base or distinct. 



Petals 3, united at base, unequal, the corolla-tube slit down one side ; stamens 3. 



Petals 5, equal, distinct or very nearly so ; stamens 5. 

 Calyx partly adnate to the ovary ; capsule circumscissile. 



1. Talinum. 



2. Claytonia. 



3. Crunocallis. 



4. Montia* 



5. Limnia. 



6. Portulaca. 



i. TALINUM Adans. Fam. PL 2: 245. 1763. 



Fleshy glabrous erect or ascending, perennial or annual herbs, with scapose or leafy 

 stems, alternate terete or flat exstipulate leaves (terete and clustered at the base in the 

 following species), and mainly cymose racemose or panicled flowers. Sepals 2, ovate. Petals 

 5, hypogynous, fugacious. Stamens as many as or more numerous than the petals and 

 adherent to their bases. Ovary many-ovuled ; style 3-lobed or 3-cleft. Capsule ovoid, oval 

 or globose, 3-valved. Seeds numerous, borne on a central globose placenta. [Aboriginal 

 name of a Senegal species.] 



A genus of about 12 species, all but i or 2 natives of America. In addition to the following, 

 about 6 others occur in the western United States. Type species : Portulaca triangularis Jacq. 



