4 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE. 

 22. ANYCHIA Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i: 112. 1803. 



[Vox,. II. 



Annual herbs, with repeatedly forking stems, elliptic oval or oblauceolate opposite 

 mostly punctate very short-petioled leaves, small scarious stipules, and minute green apetal- 

 ous flowers. Calyx 5-parted, its segments oblong, concave, not awned. Stamens 2-5, inserted 

 on the base of the calyx; filaments filiform. Staminodia wanting. Ovary subglobose, com- 

 pressed; styles 2, distinct, or united at the base; ovule solitary, atnphitropous. Utricle sub- 

 globose, somewhat compressed, longer than the calyx. [Derivation same as the preceding 

 genus.] 



Only the following species, natives of eastern North America. 



Pubescent; flowers sessile; stems mostly prostrate or ascending. i. A. dichotoma. 



Glabrous or nearly so; flowers pedicelled; stems usually erect. 2. A. Canadensis. 



i. Anychia dichotoma Michx. Forked 

 Chickweed. (Fig. 1522.) 



Anychia dicholoma Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i: 113. 

 1803. 



Pubescent, stems mostly prostrate or ascending, 

 much forked, 3 / -io / high, the internodes often 

 shorter than the leaves. Leaves narrowly elliptic, 

 2 // -4 // long, W-T." wide, mucronate or acute at 

 the apex, sessile, or the base tapering into a very 

 short petiole, usually very numerous and crowded; 

 flowers sessile in the forks, more or less clustered, 

 scarcely W highi inconspicuous except when fully 

 expanded; stamens commonly 2 or 3, sometimes 5 



In dry woods, thickets and in open places, Maine 

 to Minnesota, south to Florida, Alabama and Arkan- 

 sas. Ascends to 5200 ft. in Georgia. June-Sept. 



2. Anychia Canadensis (L.) B.S.P. 



Slender Forked Chickweed. 



(Fig. 1523.) 



Qveria Canadensis L. Sp. PI. 90. 1753. 

 Quo ia eapillacea Nutt. Gen. i: 159. 1818. 

 Anyckia dichotoma var. eapillacea Torr. Fl. V. S. 



i: 273. 1824. 



Anychia eapillacea DC. Prodr. 3: 369. 1828. 

 Anychia Canadensis B.S.P. Prel. Cat. N. Y. 1888. 



Glabrous or very nearly so, stem very slender 

 or filiform, usually erect, repeatedly forked 

 above, 6'-i2' tall, the internodes sometimes i' 

 long, much longer than those of the preceding 

 species. Leaves elliptic, oval or sometimes ob- 

 lanceolate, 3"-8" long, \"-\" wide, obtuse or 

 short-pointed at the apex, narrowed into petioles 

 about i" long, not crowded; flowers minute, 

 more or less pedicelled. 



In dry woods, Ontario to Massachusetts and 

 Georgia, west to Minnesota and Arkansas. Ascends 

 to 4200 ft. in North Carolina. June-Sept. 



23. SCLERANTHUS L. Sp. PI. 406. 1753. 



Low annual herbs, with rather stiff forking stems, opposite subulate leaves connate at 

 the base, no stipules and minute green clustered apetalous flowers. Calyx not bracted, 

 deeply 5-lobed (rarely 4-lobed), the lobes awnless, the cup-like tube hardened. Stamens 

 i-io, inserted on the calyx-tube. Ovary ovoid; styles 2, distinct; ovule solitary, pendulous, 

 amphitropous. Utricle i-seeded, enclosed by the calyx. [Greek, referring to the hard 

 calyx-tube.] 



About 10 species, of wide geographic distribution in the Old World, the following naturalized 

 from Europe as a weed. 



