200 



CRASSULACEAE (ORPINE FAMILY) 



FIG. 142. Pink 

 Cleome (Cleome serru- 

 lata). Xi 



Stems two to three feet tall, erect, 

 smooth, with a few branches near the top. 

 Leaves alternate, three-parted, or the up- 

 permost simple, the leaflets oblong, veiny, 

 and pointed at each end ; leaves near the 

 base have slender petioles, but the upper 

 ones are sessile or very short-petioled. 

 Flowers in terminal racemes, rose-colored, 

 sometimes nearly white, very showy, the 

 four petals being about a half-inch in length 

 and half as broad; sepals four, often per- 

 sistent ; ovary stalked, with a gland at its 

 base ; stamens usually six, occasionally four, 

 inserted above the petals on the stipe of 

 the ovary ; pedicels subtended by small, 

 lance-shaped bracts. Pods one-celled, very 

 slender, one to two inches long, pointed at 

 each end, crowded with seeds. (Fig. 142.) 



Means of control 



Cut or pull before the 

 have matured any pods. 



earliest flowers 



MOSSY STONECROP 

 Sedum acre, L. 



Other English names: Wall Pepper, Biting Orpine, Golden Moss, 



Creeping Jack, Pricket. 

 Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rooting at 



the joints. 



Time of bloom : June to August. 

 Seed-time: July to September. 

 Range: New Brunswick to Ontario, southward to Virginia and 



Ohio. 

 Habitat : Fields and roadsides ; cemeteries. 



At least one case of severe poisoning has been reported from the 

 eating of this peppery little plant. Stems tufted, spreading on the 

 ground, rather thick and succulent, rooting at the joints, only the 

 flowering branches erect, one to three inches high. Leaves yellow- 



