Pchsla.ve Family. 21 



calyx, dehiscent by 3 2-eleft valves. Sandy bhores; May-July; frequent: 

 Winneshiek, Fayette, Scott, Muscatine, Henry, Johnson, and Chickasaw 

 counties. (Moehrirvjiu Uitaripmi (L.) Fenzl.) 



STELLARIA L. Tufted annual herbs, with solitary or cymose white 

 flowers. Sepals 4-5. Petals 4-5, deeply 2-cleft. Stamens 10, 8, or less. Pod 

 ovoid, 1-ceUed, dehiscing by about valves. 



S. media Smith. Common Chlcltwced. Stem angled, erect or ascending, 

 much branched, glabrous except 1 or 2 pubescent lines; leaves ovate or oval, 

 acute, with ciliate petioles, the upper sessile; flowers solitary, axillary, or in 

 terminal leafy cymes; petals shorter than the calyx: stamens 2-10. Waste 

 places, fields and woods; June- August: infrequent; Muscatine county; 

 reported from Winneshiek. Fayette, Woodbury, and Lyon counties. (.1. 

 ionijifol'm (Muhl.) Britton.) 



S. longifolia Muhl. L'mtj-lcaverl Stitch-wovt. Stems erect, weak, glabrous, 

 or with rough angles; leaves linear, spreading, acutish at both ends; pedicels 

 slender, divaricate; sepals lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, equalling or shorter 

 than the petioles; capsule ovoid-oblong, about twice the length of the calyx. 

 Grassy places, meadows and woods: May-July; frequent; Winneshiek, 

 Fayette, Muscatine, Johnson, Linn, Story, Eramet, Woodbury, and Lyon 

 counties. (A. lomjlfnlia (Muhl.) Britton.) 



CERASTIUM L. Annuals or perennials, mostly pubescent or hirsute, 

 with mostly flat leaves, and white flowers in terminal cymes. Sepals and 

 petals in our species 5. Petals notched or 2 cleft. Stamens usually 10. 

 Styles 5, opposite the sepals. Pod membranous, dehiscing at the apex by 10 

 teeth, elongated, many-seeded. 



C. nutans Raf. Annual; stem 6-20 inches high, weak, reclining or ascend- 

 ing, clammy-pubescent, rarely glabrate; leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, 

 lower spatulate; cymes loose, many-flowered; pods nodding, much exceeding 

 the calyx, curved upward. Grassy moist places; May-June; frequent: 

 Winneshiek, Scott. Muscatine, Henry, Johnson, and Decatur counties. 



C. tfulgatum L. Biennial or perennial; stems viscid-pubescent, tufted, 

 erect or ascending. 6-18 inches high; leave3 oblong, the lower spatulate-ob- 

 lonf, obtuse; bracts scarious-margined; petals about equalling the calyx; pod 

 elongated, curved upward. Grassy banks; May-September; frequent: 

 Allamakee, Fayette, Scott, Muscatine, Henry, Johnson, Linn, and Decatur 

 counties. 



C. arvense L. Perennial; stems tufted; lower leaves linear-oblong, the 

 upper distant, linear or linear-lanceolate; flowers larger, petalsiobcordate, 

 twice the length of the calyx; pod equal or but little exceeding the calyx. 

 Winneshiek county. The variety oblonyifolium (Torr.) Holl. & Britt. larger, 

 leaves oblong or lanceolate, pod twice the length of the calyx, is reported 

 from Fayette county. Various ether localities are claimed for both species 

 and variety. 



PORTULACACEAE Rcichcnb. Purslane Family. 

 Herbs, with fleshy entire exstipulate leaves, and regular mostly ephem- 

 eral flowers which open only in the sunshine. Sepals 2. Petals 5. 

 Stamens 5, opposite to the petals, or often many. Styles 2-8, united 

 below, stigmatic along the inner surface. Ovary free, 1-celled. Pod 1- 

 celled, few to many-seeded. 



Talincm. Stamens usually many ; pod 3-valvea. with many seeds on a globular stalked 

 placenta?. 



