CARYOPHYLLACEAE QPINK FAMILY^ yi51 



Var texkna. Robinson. More rigid ; leaves shorter (6-10 mm. long), chiefly 

 near the base; cymes rather dense; sepals attenuate, rigid. (A. texaua Hrit- 

 ton.) — Rocky hills, s Mo. to Kan. and I ex. 



9. A. v6rna L., var. propinqua (Richards.) Fernald. Dwarf, tufted or loosely 

 matted, 2-12 cm. high, glandular-puberulent ; leaves awl-shaped, somewhat 

 triquetrovs; stems chiefly 2-5-flowered ; sepals rather abruptly acuminate, com- 

 monly longer than the oblong or spatulate often inct)nspicuous i etals. (^. 

 •propinqua Richards. ; A. verna, var. hirta auth., in part.) — Linie.st(jne or ser- 

 pentine rocks and barrens, Lab., e. Que., Smuggler's Kotch, \'t. {Prinyle, 

 Eggleston), nortiivv. and westw. 



10. A. caroliniana Walt. (Fine-barren S.) Densely tufted from a deep 

 perpendicular root ; leaves closely imbricated, but spreading, awl-shaped, pun- 

 gent, short, channeled; branches naked and minutely glandular above. .^e\eral- 

 flowered ; sepals obtuse, ovate, shorter than the pod. (A. squarrosa .Michx.) 

 — In pure sand, s. New York, N. J., and southw. along the coast. May-,July. 



11. A. groenlandica (Retz.) Spreng. (Mountain S.) Densely tuited from 

 slender roots ; stems filiform (5-20 cm. high), erect ; leaves linear, obtuse,. flac- 

 cid; petals obo\fvte, commonly retuse, about twice as long as the oblong nerve- 

 less sepals. — Greenl., Lab., mts. of N. E., N. Y., and higher A lleghenies to N. C. ; 

 also coast of N. S. and Me. ; Middletown, Ct., etc. June-Sept. — An apetalous 

 form occurs. 



5. STELLArIA L. Chickweed. Starwort 



Sepals 4-5. Petals (white) 4-5, deeply 2-cleft, sometimes none. Stamens 

 8, 10, or fewer. Styles 3, rarely 4 or 5, opposite as many sepals. Pod ovoid, 

 1-celled, opening by twice as many valves as there are styles, several-many- 

 seeded. Seeds naked. — Flowers solitary or cymose, terminal or appearing 

 lateral by the prolongation of the stem from the upper axils. (Name from stella^ 

 a star, in allusion to the star-shaped flowers.) Alsine L. in part, not Wahlenb. 



Stems and flower-stalks grlabrous. 

 Petals distinctly shorter than the sepals or none. 

 Leaves lanceolate. 



Flowers axillary or in leafy -bi acted cymes . . « , . L -S. borealif. 



Flowers chiefly in short lateral scaly -bracted cymes 2. S. uliffinoxa. 



Leaves spatulate 8. S.J'oiitinalis. 



Petals equaling or exceeding the sepals. 

 Flowers axillary, solitary, or in leafy-bracted cymes. 

 Leaves lanceolate. 

 Leaves of soft texture, flat or nearly so. 

 Mature sepals 3-4 mm. long-, two thirds as long as the pod - , 4. & craforifoWi- 

 Mature sepals less than 3 mm. long, half the length of the pod . L S.bore-ilix. 



Leaves of firm texture, cariuate 7. S. long i pes. 



Leaves elliptic-ovate ..... 6. S. humifwMi 



Flowers cymose ; bracts small, scale-like. 

 Petals 8-12 mm. long ; leaves linear, glaucous . , . . . .6. S. glauca. 



Petals 3-6 mm. long. 

 Lower pedicels erect, elongated ; fruit blackish . . . • . 7. S. longipes. 

 Lower pedicels deflexed, arcuate ; fruit pale. 



Leaves linear or nearly so ; inflorescence lateral . . . . 8. A longifolia. 



Leaves lanceolate ; inflorescence terminal . . . . . . 2. S. graminen. 



Stems and flower-stalks pubescent. 

 Leaves narrowly lanceolate. 

 Flower 1 cm. in diameter ; fruit blackish, on erect pedicels ... 7. S. louijipe/). 

 Flower 2 cm. in diameter ; fruit straw-colored, on nodding pedicels . . 10. >'. llolo'-teit. 



Leaves elhptical, chiefly sessile 11. S. piibera. 



Leaves ovate, the lower on petioles of nearly their own length. 



Styles 3^ ; pods narrowlv ovoid, subcyliudric 12. S. media. 



Styles 5 ; pods broadly ovoid 18. S. aquatica. 



1. S. borealis Bigel. Stems flaccid, many times forked, at length resolved into 

 a leafy cyme ; leaves bright green, rather broadly lanceolate; petals 2-5, minute, 

 or none; sepals acute ; styles usually 4 ; seeds smoothish. (^Alsine Hritton.) — 

 Shaded or wet places, Nfd. and Lab. to Alaska, s. to N. J., I'a., Mich., Minn , 

 Col., and Cal. (Eu.) 



2. S. uliginbsa Murr. Stems weak, decumbent or diffuse, at length pro- 

 longed, leaving the naked and usually sessile cymes lateral ; leaves lanceolate or 



