Pink Family 145 



5. S. verecunda Wats. Finely hoary pubescent, glandular- 

 viscid above; stems several, usually erect, 20-40 cm. high, leafy 

 below ; leaves narrowly lanceolate, oblanceolate or spatulate to 

 linear, acute, 3-5 cm. long ; flowers terminal on the short branches 

 or borne in 3-flowered lateral cymes; calyx in fruit clavate or 

 obovate ; petals rose color, blades shorter than the pubescent 

 claws, 2-cleft, appendages oblong or lanceolate, obtuse and often 

 toothed at the apex ; capsule ovoid, stipitate. 



Common in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains in the 

 coniferous belt; also summit of Santiago Peak, Santa Ana Mountains. 



2. ALSINE L. 



Tufted annuals, diffuse with cymose white flowers. 

 Sepals usually 5. Petals 5, 2-cleft or 2-parted, rarely 

 none. Stamens 10 or less, hypogynous. Ovary 1-celled, 

 several-many-ovuled. Styles commonly 3, rarely 4-5, 

 usually opposite the sepals. Capsule globose to oblong, 

 dehiscent by twice as many valves as styles. Seeds 

 smooth or roughened. 



1. A. media L. Weak and decumbent or ascending, 10-40 cm. 

 long, glabrous except a line of hairs along the stem and branches ; 

 leaves ovate or oval, 1-3 cm. long, the upper sessile, the lower 

 petioled; flowers 4-8 mm. broad, in terminal leafy cymes or axil- 

 lary ; pedicels slender ; sepals oblong, mostly acute, longer than 

 the 2-parted petals ; capsule ovoid, longer than the calyx ; seeds 

 rough. (Stellaria media Cyrill.) 



Common in shady places. February-April. 



2. A. nitens (Nutt.) Greene. Very slender, erect annual; 

 stems filiform, several times forked, pubescent below; leaves 

 mostly basal, the lowestovate, acute, about 4 mm. long, on slender 

 petioles of about the same length, the upper sessile, lance-linear, 

 acute, 6-10 mm. long; sepals very acute, scarious-margined, 

 1-3-nerved ; petals half as long as the sepals or wanting ; capsule 

 oblong, about equaling the sepals. (Stellaria nitens Nutt.) 



Common in the foothills in somewhat shady places. March-May. 



3. CEKASTIUM L. CHICKWEED. 



Annual or perennial, pubescent or hirsute herbs, with 

 terminal dichotomous cymes of white flowers. Sepals 5, 



