CARYOPHYLLACEiE. 29 



Plate 109. 



SAGINA, L. 



Petala Integra, saepe obsoleta sen nulla. Ovarium uni- 

 loculare. Styli tot quot sepala, iisdem alterni ! Capsula 

 polysperma 4 - 5-valvis, valvis integerrimis sepalis oppositis ! 

 — Herbae pusillee, exstipulatse, foliis filiformibus vel subulatis. 



Sagina, Linn. Gen. 176. Bartl. Ord. Nat. p. 305. Torr. &. Gray, Fl. N. 



Am. 1. p. 177. Fenzl in Ann. Wien. Mus. 1. p. 43. Endl. 



Gen. 5224. Fenzl in Ledeb. Fl. Ross. 1. p. 338. 

 Alsinella, Dillen. Gen. 6. 

 Spergul^; Sp. exstipulatae, Linn, et Auct. 

 Spergella, Reichenb. Fl. Germ. p. 110. 



Pearlwort. 



Calyx of four or five nearly distinct sepals, imbricated in 

 aestivation, herbaceous, a little fleshy, persistent. Petals as 

 many as the sepals and alternate with them, hypogynous, 

 entire, deciduous, often small and inconspicuous, sometimes 

 altogether wanting. Stamens as many as the sepals, and 

 opposite them, or twice as many, inserted on the lobes of a 

 hypogynous disk : filaments filiform : anthers introrse, two- 

 celled, the cells opening longitudinally. Ovary ovoid, one- 

 celled : styles 4 or 5, alternate with the sepals, short, the 

 whole inner face stigmatose. Ovules numerous, ascending 

 on slender funiculi which rise from a central columnar pla- 

 centa, amphitropous. 



Capsule one-celled, four - five-valved to the base ; the 

 membranaceous valves opposite the sepals, entire. Seeds 

 numerous, pyriform-lenticular, or somewhat reniform, smooth, 

 naked at the hilum. Embryo curved more than half round 

 the outside of the farinaceous albumen. 



Herbs of small size, diffuse or depressed, destitute of 

 stipules ; the opposite leaves subulate or filiform. Flowers 

 small, terminal or lateral, often nodding on the apex of the 

 strict and slender peduncle. 



