384 FLORA. 



or circumscissile dehiscence. Seeds amphitropous ; endosperm scanty 

 or copious ; embryo slender, curved. About 22 genera and 500 species, 

 mostly of warm regions, a few in the temperate zones. 



Fleshy seacoast herbs ; leaves opposite ; capsule circumscissile. i. Sesuvium. 



Not fleshy ; leaves in our species verticillate ; capsule 3-valved. 2. Molhcgo. 



1. SESUVIUM L. (See Appendix.) 



Fleshy decumbent or prostrate herbs, with opposite leaves and axillary pink or 

 purplish flowers. Stipules none, but the petioles often dilated and connate at the 

 base. Calyx-tube top-shaped, 5-lobed, the lobes oblong, obtuse. Petals none. 

 Stamens 5-60, inserted on the calyx-tube. Filaments filiform, sometimes united at 

 the base. Ovary 3-5-celled. Styles 3-5, papillose along the inner side. Capsule 

 membranous, oblong, 3-5-celled, circumscissile. Seeds round-reniform, smooth; 

 embryo annular. About 4 species, natives of seacoasts and saline regions. Besides 

 the following, another occurs in the Southern States and in the alkaline areas of the 

 Far West. 



i. Sesuvium maritimum (Walt.) B. S. P. SEA PURSLANE. (I. F. f. 1424.) 

 Annual, glabrous; branches 0.5-3 dm. long. Leaves obovate or spatulate, entire, 

 rounded or slightly emarginate at the apex, narrowed into a petiole or the upper 

 sessile, 8-25 mm. long; flowers sessile or nearly so, about 2 mm. broad, mostly 

 solitary; stamens 5, alternate with the calyx-lobes; capsule ovoid, about 4 mm. high, 

 scarcely longer than the calyx. Sands of the seashore, Long Island, N. Y., to Fla. 

 July-Sept. [S. pentandrum Ell.] 



2. MOLLUGO L. 



Herbs, mostly annual, much branched, with verticillate, or in some species basal 

 or alternate leaves, and small cymose or axillary whitish flowers. Stipules scarious, 

 deciduous. Calyx 5 -parted. Sepals persistent, scarious-margined. Petals none. 

 Stamens 3-5, when 3 alternate with the cavities of the ovary, when 5 alternate with 

 the sepals. Ovary usually 3-celled. Capsule usually 3-celled, 3-valved, loculici- 

 dally dehiscent. Seeds small, the testa smooth, granular or sculptured. About 12 

 species, most of them tropical. Besides the following, another occurs in the South- 

 west. 



i. Mollugo verticillata L. CARPET-WEED. (I. F. f. 1425.) Prostrate, gla- 

 brous, not fleshy, spreading and forming patches sometimes 5 dm. in diameter. 

 Leaves verticillate, in 5's or 6's, spatulate, obovate or linear, entire, obtuse, 1-2.5 

 cm. long, narrowed into a petiole; flowers axillary, less than 2 mm. broad; pedicels 

 filiform; sepals oblong, slightly shorter than the ovoid capsule, which appears 

 roughened by the projecting seeds; seeds reniform, usually smooth and shining. In 

 waste and cultivated grounds, N. B. and Ont. to Minn., Fla., Tex. and Mex. Native 

 of the warmer parts of America. May-Sept. 







Family 6. PORTULACACEAE Reichenb. 

 Purslane Family. 



Herbs, rarely somewhat woody, with regular perfect but unsymmet- 

 rical flowers. Sepals commonly 2 (rarely 5). Petals 4 or 5, rarely more, 

 hypogynous, imbricated. Stamens hypogynous, equal in number to the 

 petals or fewer, rarely more ; filaments filiform ; anthers 2-celled, longi- 

 tudinally dehiscent. Ovary i -eel led ; style 2-3-cleft or 2-3-divided, the 

 divisions stigmatic on the inner side ; ovules 2-00 , amphitropous. Capsule 

 circumscissile, or dehiscent by 3 valves. Seeds 2-co , reniform-globose 

 or compressed; embryo curved. About 150 species, mostly natives of 

 America. 



Calyx free from the ovary; capsule 3-valved. 



Seeds numerous ; stamens 5-00 . I. Talinunt. 

 Seeds not more than 6 ; stamens 2-5. 



Petals distinct or very nearly so, and stamens 5 in our species. 2. Claytonia. 



Petals united into a short tube at the base; stamens 2 or 3. 3. Montia. 



Calyx partly adnate to the ovary; capsule circumscissile. 4. Portttlaca. 



