VOL. II.] 



PINK FAMILY. 



35 



16. MOEHRINGIA I,. Sp. PI. 359. 1753. 



Low herbs, our species perennials, with oblong ovate ovate-lanceolate or linear soft 

 leaves, sessile or very short-petioled, and small white flowers solitary in the axils or in termi- 

 nal cymes. Sepals and petals 4 or 5. Stamens 8 or 10. Capsule oblong or ellipsoid, few- 

 seeded. Seeds mostly smooth and shining, appendaged at the hilum by a membranous 

 broad strophiole. [In honor of P. H. G. Moehring, naturalist of Danzig.] 



About 20 species, natives of the northern hemisphere. Only the following are known to occur 

 in North America. 



Leaves oblong or oval, usually obtuse; sepals obtuse or acute, much shorter than the petals. 



i. M. lateriflora. 

 Leaves lanceolate, usually acute; sepals acuminate, longer than the petals. 2. M. macrophylla. 



i. Moehringia lateriflora (L,.) Fenzl. Blunt- 

 leaved Moehringia or Sandwort. (Fig. 1510.) 



Arenaria lateriflora L. Sp. PI. 423. 1753. 

 Moehringia lateriflora Fenzl, Verbr. Alsin. table, p. 18. 

 1833- 



Stems erect or ascending, simple or at length spar- 

 ingly branched, finely pubescent throughout, 4 / -i2 / 

 high. Leaves thin, oval or oblong, % f -i' long, obtuse, 

 spreading, the margins and nerves ciliate; cymes lateral 

 and terminal, few-flowered or flowers sometimes soli- 

 tary; flowers 3 // -4 // broad, their parts in 4's or 5*3; sepals 

 oblong, obtuse or acute, half as long as the nearly entire 

 petals; ovary at first 3-celled; capsule ovoid, nearly 

 twice as long as the calyx, dehiscent by 3 2-cleft valves. 



In moist places and on shores, southern New York and 

 New Jersey to Missouri, north to Nova Scotia and Alaska, 

 extending in the Rocky Mountains to Utah. Also in Oregon 

 and British Columbia and in northern Europe and Asia. 

 May-July. 



2. Moehringia macrophylla (Hook.) 



Torr. Large-leaved Moehringia 



or Sandwort. (Fig. 1511.) 



Arenaria macrophylla Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. i: 102. 

 PI. 37. 1830. 



Moehringia macrophylla Torr. Bot. Wilkes' Exp. 246. 

 1874. 



Stems decumbent, puberulent, usually branched, 

 6 / -i5 / long. Leaves lanceolate, acute or acumi- 

 nate (rarely obtusish) at the apex, narrowed at the 

 base, i / ~3 / long, 2 // -s // wide; cymes terminal or 

 becoming axillary by the elongation of the stem, 

 i-5-flowered; flowers about $" broad; sepals lance- 

 olate or ovate-lanceolate, long-acuminate, longer 

 than the small petals; capsule rather shorter than 

 the calyx, 3-valved, the valves 2-cleft. 



Isle St. Ignace Lake Superior, to British Columbia, 

 south to California. May-Aug. 



17. AMMODENIA J. G. Gmel. Fl. Sib. 4: 160. 1769. 



[HONKENYA Ehrh. Beitr. 2: 180. 1788.] 



Perennial fleshy maritime herbs, with ovate obovate oblong or oblanceolate leaves, and 

 rather small flowers, solitary in the axils and in the forks of the stem or branches. Sepals 5 

 (rarely 4). Petals the same number, entire. Stamens 8 or 10. Disk prominent, 8-io-lobed, 

 glandular. Styles 3-5. Capsule subglobose, fleshy, 3~5-valved when mature, the valves en- 

 tire. Seeds numerous, obovate, not strophiolate. [Greek, referring to the growth of these 

 plants in sand.] 



Two species, the following of sea beaches throughout the north temperate zone, the other of the 

 coasts of northwestern America and northeastern Asia. 



