70 CARYOPHYLLACE^E. Arenaria. 



6. A. palustris, Watson. Apparently annual, smooth, the stems weak, simple, 

 4 to 8 inches high : leaves linear, flaccid, | to 1 inch long, acute : flowers few, large, 

 on long pedicels : sepals elliptic, obtuse, 1£ to 2 lines long, herbaceous, not nerved : 

 petals oblong, twice longer : capsule oblong, shorter than the calyx : seeds numer- 

 ous. — Alsine palustris, Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. iii. CI. 



Swamps near San Francisco,- Bolander, Kellogg. 



§ 3. Parts of the flowers sometimes in fours : valves of the capsule bifid ; the young ovary 

 Z-celled : seed appendaged at the hilum with a small caruncle. — Mcehkingia. 



7. A. macrophylla, Hook. Perennial, with running rootstocks ; stems ascend- 

 ing, 3 to 8 inches high, mostly simple, leafy, puberulent above : leaves 3 to 4 pairs, 

 narrowly lanceolate, acute at each end, 1 to 2 inches long, thin, bright green : flowers 

 few, on slender pedicels : sepals ovate-oblong, acuminate, 1J- to 2| lines long, 

 1-nerved, exceeding the obtuse petals : capsule ovoid, nearly equalling the calyx : 

 seeds several, smooth, rather large. — Fl. i. 102, t. 37. Meehringia umbrosa, Gray, 

 PI. Fendl. 13, not Fenzl. M. macrophylla, Torr. Bot. Wilkes Exp. 246. 



From Washington Territory to California (Bigelow) ; Sierra County, Lemmon. Also in New 

 Mexico, Fendler. Another species of this section, A. lateriflora, Linn., with broader ohtuse 

 leaves and exserted petals, occurs in Oregon and is of wide range northward and eastward. 



5. SAGINA, Linn. Pearlwort. 



Sepals 4 to 5. Petals as many, entire or slightly emarginate, often minute or 



wanting. Stamens as many as the petals, rarely twice as many or fewer. Ovary 



1-celled, many-ovuled : the styles alternate with the sepals, and as many. Capsule 



dehiscent to the base by entire valves alternate with the sepals. — Low green herbs, 



with subulate or filiform leaves without stipules, and small terminal usually long- 



pedicelled flowers. 



A small genus, inhabiting moist places in temperate and frigid regions, chiefly of the northern 

 hemisphere. 



1. S. occidentalis, Watson. Annual, glabrous, very slender and delicate, 2 to 

 6 inches high, decumbent at base or ascending : leaves not fascicled, 3 to 6 lines 

 long, pungent : flowers pentamerous, on elongated straight pedicels : sepals obtuse 

 or acutish, a line long : petals nearly equalling the sepals : stamens 10 : capsule 

 exceeding the calyx. — Proc. Am. Acad. x. 345. &'. procumbens, Bolander, Cat. 6. 



Valleys and borders of salt-marshes from San Francisco to Washington Territory. 



2. S. Linneei, Presl. Biennial or perennial, glabrous, densely matted and de- 

 cumbent, 1 or 2 inches high : leaves somewhat fascicled, 3 to 6 lines long, pungent : 

 flowers on long pedicels, at length nodding : sepals a line long, obtuse, exceeding 

 the petals : stamens 10 : capsule at length nearly twice longer than the calyx. — 

 Spergula saginoides, Linn. 



Webber Lake, Lemmon. Arctic America and southward in the Eocky Mountains to New 

 Mexico ; also in the Old World. 



6. SPERGULA, Linn. Corn-Spurrey. 



Sepals 5. Petals 5, entire. Stamens 10, rarely 5. Ovary 1-celled, many-ovuled : 

 styles 5, alternate with the sepals. Capsule 5-valved, the entire valves opposite to 

 the sepals. Seeds laterally compressed, acutely margined or winged : embryo spiral. 

 — Annuals, dichotomously or fasciculately branched ; with subulate fascicled or 

 apparently whorled leaves, and small scarious stipules ; flowers pedicelled, in dicho- 

 tomous cymes. 



A genus of 2 or 3 species, of Europe and Asia, widely naturalized as weeds in cultivated fields. 



