58 POKTULACE^:. 



scale like crowded and fleshy leaves broadly triangular and acute, am- 

 plexicaul, of ten nearly obsolete : fl. densely spiked: perianth of 4 or 5 

 concave carinate sepals more or less united: pericarp free from the 

 oblong seed, this % line long or less. In alkaline soil at Byron Springs. 



5. SILEDA, Forskaal (SEA ELITE). Saline herbs or shrubs, with 

 alternate fleshy linear entire leaves, and axillary sessile usually per- 

 fect flowers. Perianth minutely bracteolate, 5-cleft or -parted, fleshy; 

 lobes unappendaged, more or less carinate, crested or winged, enclosing 

 the fruit. Stamens 5. Styles 2, 3 or 4, short and thick. Pericarp mem- 

 branous, free or slightly adherent to the vertical or horizontal lenticular 

 seed. Testa shining, black and crustaceous. Embryo spiral. 



1. S. Californica, Wats. Stout, 23 ft. high, very leafy, glabrous or 

 somewhat pubescent: leaves broadly linear, subterete, not wider at 

 base, % 1 in. long, acute, crowded on the branchlets: fl. large, 1 4 in 

 each axil: perianth cleft nearly to the base; lobes not appehdaged: 

 seed vertical or horizontal, nearly 1 line broad, faintly reticulate. 

 Vicinity of sand beaches about San Francisco Bay, but seldom seen. 



ORDER XIX. PORTULACE>. 



More or less succulent herbs, with entire leaves and regular complete 

 flowers which open in sunshine only. Sepals 2 (in Leivisia 48), some- 

 times cohering at base. Petals 5 (in Lewisia 816), often united at base. 

 Stamens commonly 5 (3 oo ), opposite the petals, hypogynous, perigy- 

 nous or epipetalous; filaments distinct; anthers versatile. Ovary 

 1-celled, with few or many ovules on a central placenta. Seeds commonly 

 strophiolate; embryo curved or coiled around a mealy albumen. 



1. PORTULACA, Lobel (PURSLANE). Fleshy annuals, with axillary 

 and terminal yellow or rose-colored flowers. Sepals 2, united below and 

 coherent with the base of the ovary; the limb free and deciduous. 

 Petals 46. Stamens 720, perigynous with the petals. Style 38- 

 cleft. Capsule circumscissile, opening by a lid. Seeds small. 



1. P. OLERACEA, L. Prostrate, glabrous, the herbage usually reddish 

 or purplish: leaves flat, obovate, obtuse: sepals acute, carinate: petals 

 11/22 lines long, yellow: stigmas 5: capsule 35 lines long: seeds 

 dull-black, minutely tuberculate. Native of S. Europe. 



2. LEWISIA, Pursh. Low acaulescent fleshy perennials, with thick 

 fusiform roots, and short 1 -flowered scapes. Sepals 48, broadly ovate, 

 unequal, persistent, imbricate. Petals 816, large and showy. Stamens 

 oo. Style 3 8-parted nearly to the base. Capsule circumscissile at 

 base, the upper and deciduous part more or less valvate-cleft. Seeds oo , 

 black and shining. 



