Flora of the Palouse Regio?i 69 



M. linearis Greene. Annual, branched below, 5-15 cm. tall: leaves lin- 

 ear, succulent, all alternate, 2-5 cm. long, scarious-marginedat base: raceme 

 4-10-flowered, one-sided, the pedicels curving downward: sepals 4 mm. long: 

 capsule shorter than the sepals; seeds shiny, 2 mm. broad. Frequent and 

 abundant. 



M. dichotoma Howell. Very similar to the above but smaller in every 

 way, 2-8 cm. tall: calyx 2 mm. long: petals scarcely exceeding the calyx: 

 seeds 1 mm. broad, dull. Common but inconspicuous. 



103. PORTULACA. 



Low fleshy herbs: leaves alternate or partly opposite; stipules 

 scarious or none, or reduced to hairy tufts: flowers terminal and 

 sessile, expanding in direct sunshine before mid-day, soon closing: 

 sepals 2, coherent at the base in a tube and adnate to the ovary: 

 stamens 7-20: ovules numerous. 



P. oleracea L. Annual, prostrate, fleshy, forming mats 10-14 cm. in 

 diameter: leaves narrowly obovate, obtuse or truncate, narrowed at base, 

 1-2 cm. long, glabrous: calyx-lobes ovate, keeled: petals yellow, notched at 

 apex: stamens 7-12: capsule conical, acute, dehiscing below the middle. 

 Common on the banks of Snake River, and also appearing at other places as 

 a weed. 



Family 29. CARYOPHYLLACEAE. 



Annual or perennial herbs: stems often swollen at the nodes: 

 leaves opposite, entire, with or without stipules: flowers regular 

 and perfect (in ours): sepals 4-5, separate or united into a calyx- 

 tube: petals equal in number to the sepals or none: stamens twice 

 as many as the sepals or fewer, hypogynous or perigynous: styles 

 2-5; ovary 1 -celled, rarely 3-5-celled; ovules several or many, 

 attached to a central column: fruit a capsule, akene or utricle: 

 endosperm mealy. 



Sepals united. 



Calyx-ribs 10 or more. 



Styles 5, alternate with the calyx-teeth. 104. agrostkmma. 



Styles 3, rarely 4-5; if 5 opposite the calyx-teeth. 



105. SII,ENE. 

 Calyx-ribs 5. 106. SAPONARIA. 



Sepals distinct or united only at the base. 

 Stipules present, scarious. 



Styles and capsule-valves 5, the latter opposite the sepals. 



no. spkkgui.a 

 Styles and capsule-valves 3, rarely 5, in which case the latter are 

 alternate with the sepals. in. spergularia. 



Stipules wanting. 



Petals entire or emarginate, rarely none. 109. arexaria. 



Petals deeply 2-cleft or parted, rarely none. 



Capsule ovoid or oblong, with as many valves as the styles. 



107. STELLA RI A. 



Capsule cylindric, dehiscent, with equal teeth twice as many as 

 the styles. 108. cerastium. 



