CARYOPHYLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY) 377 



2. P. dich6toma (L.) Nutt. Smooth, tufted; stems (1.5-3 dm. high) ascend- 

 ing from a rather woody base; leaves (1.2-3.6 cm. long) and bracts narroirly 

 awl-shaped; cymes open, repeatedly forked; sepals short-pointed; minute 

 bristles in place of petals. — Rocks, Md. to N. C. and Tex. July-Sept. 



AIZOACEAE 



* 



A miscellaneous group, chiefly of fleshy or succulent plants, with mostly oppo- 

 site leaves and no stipules. Differing from CaryophyUaceae and Portulacaceae 

 by having the ovary and capsule 2-several-celled, and the stamens and petals 

 sometimes numerous, as in Cactaceae (but the latter wanting in most of the 

 genera). Seeds with the slender embryo curved about mealy albumen. Our 

 genera apetalous and with the calyx free from the ovary. 



1. Sesuvium. Calyx-lobes 5, petaloid. Stamens 5-60. Capsule circumscissile. Succulent. 



2. Mollugo. Sepals 5. Stamens 3 or 5. Capsule 3-valved. Not succulent. 



1. SESUVIUM L. Sea Purslane 



Calyx 5-parted, purplish inside, persistent, free. Petals none. Stamens 5- 

 60, inserted on the calyx. Styles 3-5, separate. Pod 3-5-celled, many-seeded, 

 circumscissile, the upper part falling off as a lid. — Usually prostrate maritime 

 herbs, with succulent stems, opposite leaves, and axillary or terminal flowers. 

 (An unexplained name.) 



1. S. maritimum (Walt.) BSP. Annual, procumbent or sometimes erect ; 

 leaves oblong- to obovate-spatulate, obtuse ; flowers sessile ; stamens 5. (S.pen- 

 tandrum Ell.) — Sea-coast, L. I. to Fla. 



2. MOLLUGO L. Indian Chickweed 



Sepals 5, white inside. Stamens hypogynous, 5 and alternate with the sepals, 

 or 3 and alternate with the 3 cells of the ovary. Stigmas 3. Capsule 3-celled, 

 3-valved, locuiicidal, the partitions breaking away from the many-seeded axis. 

 — Low homely annuals, much branched ; the stipules obsolete. (An old Latin 

 name for some soft plant.) 



1. M. vERTiciLLATA L. (Carpet Weed.) Prostratc, foriuiug mats ; leaves 

 spatulate, clustered in whorls at the joints, where the 1 -flowered pedicels 

 form a sort of sessile timbel ; stamens usually 3. — Sandy river-banks, road- 

 sides, and cultivated grounds. Jtme-Sept. (Immigrant from farther south.) 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE (Pink Family) 



Herbs, vjith opposite entire leaves, symmetrical 4-b-merous flowers, with or 

 without petals ; the distinct stamens no more than tioice the number of the sepals, 

 either hypogynous or perigynous ; styles 2-5 {or rarely united into one) ; seeds 

 several or usually many, attached to the base or to the central column of the 

 l-cellfd (rarely o-b-celled) pod, icith a slender embryo coiled or curved around 

 the outside of mealy albumen, in Dianthus nearly straight. — Bland herbs ; the 

 stems usually swollen at the joints ; uppermost leaves rarely alternate. Leaves 

 often united at the base. Calyx persistent. Styles stigmatic along the inside. 

 Seeds amphitropous or campylotropous. 



Tribe I. ALSINEAE. Sepals distinct or nearly so, imbricated in tho bud. Petals wln-ii pre.sent 

 without claws, mostly imbricated, and with the stamens inserted at the base of tl»e sessile 

 ovary, or into a little disk. Styles separate to the base. Stamens opposite the sepals, when not 

 more in number. Low herbs. 



