22 SPRING FLORA 



PORTULACACE-ffi. Purslane Family. 



Herbs, usually from underground stems or thickened 

 roots. Leaves succulent, entire, exstipulate. Inflor- 

 escence cymose, racemose or solitary. Flowers mostly 

 ephemeral, opening only on bright, sunshiny days; 

 regular, complete, unsymmetrical. Sepals 2 (rarely 

 4-8). Petals usually 5, fragile and becoming very thin 

 in pressed specimens. Stamens hypogynous, 3-many, 

 usually of the same number as the petals. Styles 2-3- 

 cleft or divided. Ovary 1-celled, "superior," ripening 

 into a capsule. 



Petals distinct 1. Cluytonia 



Petals united at the base forming a short tube 2. Montia 



1. CLAYTONIA. Spring Beauty. 



Annual or perennial succulent herbs often from a deep- 

 seated tuber. Leaves entire. Inflorescence in terminal ra- 

 cemes or cymes. Flowers showy; proterandrous; not ephemeral; 

 pink with darker veins of the same color (or in some species 

 yellow). Sepals 2, persistent. Petals 5, all of the same length. 

 Stamens 5. Ovules about 6. 



Stems and the basal leaves from a thick caudex; stem- 

 leaves alternate 1. C. megarrhiza 



Stems and the basal leaves from a tuber-like corm; 



stem leaves opposite 2. C. lanceolata 



1. C. megarrhiza Parry. Perennial from a large root (often 

 a foot long). Basal leaves rosette-forming; spatulate to 

 broadly wedge-shaped. Stem leaves 2 (or rarely more) ; usually 

 alternate; linear to spatulate, narrowing toward the base. 

 Scapes cymose. May. 



2. C. lanceolata Pursh. (C. caroliniana sessilifolia Torr.) 

 Stem 4-12 inches long. Basal leaf narrow; stem leaves 2, 

 lanceolate or linear. Raceme cymose, sessile or nearly so; 

 few-flowered; scarious-bracted. On moist mountain slopes. 

 April -May. 



2. MONTIA. Indian, Miners' or Spanish Lettuce. 



Mostly annuals. Roots fibrous. Sepals 2. Petals 3-5; 

 mostly unequal, and usually slightly united at base. Stamens 

 usually 3, borne at the base of the corolla. Ovules 2-5. 



Calyx 4-25ths of an inch long; seeds 2-25ths of an inch 



broad ' 1. M. perfoliata 



Calyx 2-25ths of an inch long; seeds l-25th of an inch 

 broad. 



Basal leaves linear 2. M. parvlflora 



Basal leaves ovate 3. M. depressa 



