146 Caryophyllaceae 



rarely 4. Petals of the same number, emarginate or 

 bifid, rarely wanting. Stamens 10, rarely fewer. Styles 

 equal in number to the sepals and opposite them, or 

 fewer. Capsule cylindric, 1-celled, many-ovuled, often 

 curved, dehiscent by 10, rarely 8 apical teeth. Seeds 

 rough. 



1. C. viscosum L. Annual, tufted; stems ascending or 

 spreading, densely viscid-pubescent, 10-30 cm. long; leaves ovate 

 or obovate, or the lower spatulate, 8-25 mm. long, obtuse ; bracts 

 small, herbaceous; flowers 4-6 mm. broad, in glomerate cymes, 

 becoming paniculate in fruit; pedicels shorter than or equaling 

 the acute sepals ; petals shorter than the sepals, bifid. 



Frequent in waste places. 



2. C. vulgatum L. Biennial or perennial, viscid-pubescent, 

 tufted, erect or ascending, 15-45 cm. long; lower leaves spatulate- 

 oblong, obtuse ; upper leaves oblong, 12-25 mm. long, acute or 

 obtuse; bracts scarious-margined ; inflorescence cymose, loose, 

 the pedicels at length much longer than the calyx ; sepals obtuse 

 or acute; petals exceeding the sepals, 4-6 mm. long, 2-cleft; cap- 

 sule usually curved upward. (C. trivale Link.) 



Frequent in lawns. 



4. SAGINA L. 



Low tufted annual or perennial herbs, with subulate 

 leaves and small pedicelled whitish flowers. Sepals 

 4-5. Petals of the same number, entire, emarginate or 

 none. Stamens of the same number or twice as many 

 or sometimes fewer. Styles as many as the sepals and 

 alternate with them. Capsule 4-5-valved, at length de- 

 hiscent to the base, the valves opposite the sepals. 



1. S. occidentalis Wats. Very slender glabrous annual, 

 with several decumbent or ascending stems, these 5-15 cm. long; 

 leaves nearly filiform but flattened above; pedicels exceeding the 

 leaves, 14-25 mm. long; flowers 5-merous, 4-5 mm. broad; 

 capsule 3.5 mm. long. 



Occasional in the Santa Monica Mountains and the Verdugo Hills. 



