FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 99 
» Fig. 83. Long-leaved stitchwort 
(Alsine longifolia), with enlarged 
flower. Original. 
Family Caryophyllaceae. Pink Family. Contains about 70 genera 
and over 1500 species, widely distributed, but most abundant in the 
northern hemisphere. They are all herbaceous plants, the stems fre- 
quently swollen at the joints, the leaves opposite and with or without 
stipules. The flowers are perfect, provided with both calyx and corolla, 
the former either composed of distinct sepals or united into a tube. 
The ovary is one-celled, becoming a utricle or capsule in fruit. Owing 
to the fact that a uumber of genera of very diverse habit and structure 
are included in this family, it is difficult to give more than very general 
characters. 
The Caryophyllaceae are of interest only as ornamental plants. 
Various species of Dianthus are represented in cultivation by innumer- 
able horticultural varieties, including all the pinks, picotees, carnations, 
ete. Lychnis, Silene and Gypsophila are also cultivated. In- Fig. 82, a 
wild white-flowered species of the latter genus (Silene alba) is shown. 
A number of small herbs with white or greenish flowers, known collec- 
tively as “chickweeds,” are comprised in the genera Arenaria, Alsine, 
Spergula, Tissa and Cerastium. These are all distinguished from the 
true pinks by having the sepals distinct and not united into a tube. 
(See Fig. 83.) One of the familiar weeds of waste places is the 
“Bouncing Bet,” Saponaria officinalis, also a member of the Pink 
Family. 
