CARYOPHYLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY) ;579 



about half as long as the very blunt pod ; seeds dark brown, relatively laree 

 {Buda borealis Wats. ; Tissa canadensis Britton : S. borealis Robinson ^ -1 

 Coast of Lab. to R. I. (J. F. Collins). '^ 



* * * Fleshy biennial with a thick root. 

 4. S. m§dia (L.) C. Presl. Stout root perpendicular; stems spreading- 

 flowers large ; pods at length 7 nun. long, exceeding the calyx: seeds mostly 

 winged. — Near Salina, N. Y. {Fry)\ also Cal. (Eu.) 



2. SPERGULA L. Spurrey 



Stamens 5 or 10. Styles 5. The 5 valves of the pod opposite the sepals. Em- 

 bryo spirally annular. Leaves in whorls. Otherwise as Spergularia. (Name 

 from spargere, to scatter, from the seeds. ) 



1. S. ARVENSis L. (Corn S.) Annual, bright green, scarcely or not at all 

 viscid ; leaves numerous, in whorls, thread -shaped (2-5 cm. long) ; stipules 

 minute ; petals white ; seeds roughened with minute lohitish papillae. — Gr&m 

 fields, etc., common. (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. S. SATivA Boenn. Similar but dull green and distinctly viscid ; flowers ill- 

 scented ; seeds margined, obscurely dotted, not jmpillate. —SpsLTingly a,dveniive 

 in fields, Ct. (^Graves) and Vt. {Jones) to Ont. {Fletcher). 



3. SAGINA L. Pearlwort 



Sepals 4 or 5. Petals 4 or 5, undivided, or often none. Stamens as many as 

 the sepals, rarely twice as many. Styles as many as the sepals and alternate 

 with them. Pod many-seeded, 4-5-valved to the base ; valves opposite the se- 

 pals. — Little matted herbs, with thread-like or awl-shaped leaves, no stipules, 

 and small flowers terminating the stems or branches ; in summer. (Name from 

 sagina, fattening ; previously applied to the Spurrey.) 



Upper leaves not proliferous ; petals not longer than the sepals. 

 Seeds at maturity orange-brown, dotted with resinous atoms . . . 1. S. decumbens. 

 Seeds at maturity dark or grayish brown, smoothish or roughened but with- 

 out atoms 2. S. procumbens. 



Upper leaves with fascicles of reduced leaves in their axils ; petals decidedly 



longer than the sepals . 3. 5. nodosa. 



1. S. decumbens (Ell.) T. & G. Annual, ascending; the peduncles and 

 calyx with the margins of the upper leaves at first glandular-pubescent ; leaves 

 short, often bristle-tipped ; sepals and valves 5 or rarely 4 ; pod oblong-ovoid, 

 nearly twice longer than the calyx. {S. apetala Am. auth., not Ard.) — Mass. 

 to 111., Mo., and south w. Var. Smithii (Gray) Wats., a slender form, apetal- 

 ous, at least in the later flowers. — In waste ground near Philadelphia, and in 

 sandy fields at Somers Point, N. J. (O. E. Smith). 



2. S. procumbens L. Annnal or perennial, depressed or spreading on the 

 ground, glabrous ; leaves linear-thread-shaped ; apex of the peduncle often 

 hooked soon after flowering ; petals shorter than the broadly ovate obtuse sepals, 

 sometimes none. — Springy places and damp rocks, chiefly near the coast, Nfd. 

 to Pa. and Del.; also Ont. and Mich. (Eu.) 



3. S. nod5sa (L.) Fenzl. Tufted perennial, erect, glabrous; upper leaves 

 very short, proliferous in their axils; petals 5, white, conspicuous. — Rocky 

 shores, etc.. Cutler, Me. {Kennedy), Isle Royale, L. Superior, and north w. 

 (Eu.) Var. glandul6sa (Bess.) Asch. Peduncles, etc., more or less gland u- 

 lar-puberulent. — Cape Ann, Mass., to Me. (Eu.) 



4. ARENARIA L. Sandwort 



Sepals 5. Petals 5, entire, sometimes barely notched, rarely wanting. Sta- 

 mens 10. Styles 8, rarely more or fewer, opposite as many sepals. Pod short, 

 splitting into as many or twice as many valves as there are styles, few-many 



