32 SPRING FLORA 



10. L,. tlictyotum A. Gray. Annual; decumbent, much branched 

 from the base. Leaves linear, tapering- to both ends, 1-2 inches 

 long; usually entire. Petals usually wanting. Siliques ovate, 

 strongly reticulated; pubescent when young. In alkaline soil. 



2. CAPSELL.A. (Bursa.) Shepherd's . Purse. 



Homely erect, branching annuals; more or less pubescent 

 with forked or stellate hairs. Inflorescence at length a 

 raceme of small white flowers. Style short, persistent. Fruit 

 a silicle. Seeds many in each cell. 



Siliques wedge-shaped, the length less than twice the 



breadth 1. C. Bursa-jmstoris 



Siliques elliptical, the length 6-10 times the 



breadth 2. C. procumbent* 



1. C. Bursa-pastoris Medic. (Bursa Bursa-pastoris (L.) 

 Britton.) A very familiar weed of waste places, usually less 

 than a foot high. Inflorescence of buds corymbose, but 

 lengthening into a raceme in fruit. Basal leaves rosette- 

 forming; variously pinnatifid. Stem-leaves sagittate; entire 

 or dentate. Siliques emarginately wedge-shaped. Jan. -Dec. 



2. C. procumbens (L.) Fries. (C. divaricata Walp.; C. ellip- 

 tica C. A. Meyer; Hutchinsia procumbens (L.) Desv.) A smaller 

 plant with the upper leaves oblanceolate to linear, entire, not 

 sagittate. Stigma sessile or nearly so. Siliques elliptic- 

 oblong, entire at apex, on slender pedicels. April-June. 



3. ALYSSUM. 



Branching stellate-pubescent annual or perennial herbs. 

 Leaves entire. Inflorescence a rather crowded simple raceme; 

 but corymbose at first. Flowers small, with entire petals. 

 Silique globose; seeds 1-2 in each cell. 



1. A, nlyssoides (L.) Gouan. (A. calycinum L.) Yellow or 

 Small Alyssum. Erect, usually branching from the base, 

 densely stellate-pubescent, 3-10 inches high. Leaves spatulate; 

 entire; alternate (%); the internodes becoming shorter towards 

 the summit. Flowers pale-yellow, fading to white; persisting 

 around the base of the fruit. Filaments of the shorter sta- 

 mens toothed at the base. Dry hills and waste places. May- 

 June. 



4. DRAB A. Whitlow Grass. 



Low tufted annuals or perennials with- usually stellate 

 pubescence. Leaves simple and basal, often in dense rosettes. 

 Inflorescence racemose, often scape-like. Flowers small; petals 

 yellow or white, or sometimes wanting. 



Flowers white. 



Leaves entire. 



Pods smooth 1. D. caroliniana 



Pods pubescent 2. D. caroliniana micrantha 



Leaves dentate 3. D. cuncifolia 



Flowers yellow 4. D. nemoro-sa 



1. D. caroliniana Walt. Carolina Whitlow-Grass. Winter 

 annual on short leafy stems. Leaves entire, oblong or obovate; 

 sessile; stellate-hairy; somewhat fleshy; entire, or rarely 3-4- 

 toothed. Raceme corymbose even in fruit. Petals white, twice 

 the length of the sepals, entire (sometimes lacking in the later 

 flowers). Style none. Pods glabrous. In sandy fields. March- 

 June. 



