Dicotyledones. 89 



n. ANDROSACE. Starfoil. 



(Greek name of a polyp supposed to be a plant.) 



Low annual or sometimes perennial lierbs, with small, tufted basal 

 leaves, and small white or pink flowers borne in scapose, involucrate 

 umbels. Calyx 5-lobed or cleft, persistent. Corolla salver- or funnel- 

 shaped, contracted at the throat, the tube shorter than the calyx. 

 Stamens 5, included. Ovary globular or turbinate. Capsule 5-valved. 



I. Androsace occidentalis, Pursh. (L., occidentalis, western.) Western 

 Starfoil. Small, nearly or quite glabrous annual. Scapes i to 3 inches long, 

 mostly clustered, erect or ascending from fibrous roots. The basal leaves and 

 leaves of the involucre oblong-ovate. Corolla white, shorter than the calyx. 

 Pedicels slender. In dry soil. 



m. ANAGALLIS. Pimpernel. 

 (The old Greek name, possibly from ana^ again; agalloy to delight in.) 



Diffuse or erect annual or perennial, with mostly opposite or ver- 

 ticillate sessile or short-petioled leaves, and white, blue, red, or pink 

 flowers on axillary peduncles. Calyx and corolla 5-parted ; corolla 

 rotate, longer than the calyx. Stamens 5, inserted at the base of the 

 corolla, more or less pubescent, distinct or united into a ring at the 

 base. Ovary globose with many ovules. Capsule circumscissile. 



1. Anagallis arvensis, L. (L., arvensis, belonging to the fields.) Common 

 Pimpernel. Usually much branched annual. Leaves ovate and sessile, shorter 

 than the peduncles. Slender peduncles recurved in fruit. Lobes of the corolla 

 fringed with teeth or glands. Flowers scarlet, sometimes white, opening only in 

 bright weather. In waste places. 



IV. CENTUTfCULUS. Chaffweed. 



(Derivation uncertain.) 



Low, glabrous annuals, with small, alternate, and entire leaves and 

 minute, solitary, axillary flowers. Calyx 4-5 -parted; corolla 4-5 -cleft, 

 with urn-shaped tube and spreading lobes, shorter than the calyx. 

 Stamens 4-5, filaments short, inserted on the throat of the corolla. 

 Capsule globose, containing many seeds, circumscissile. 



1. Centunculus minimus, L. (L., minimus, least.) Chaffweed or False 

 Pimpernel, i to 6 inches high. Leaves spatulate or obovate, short-petioled. 

 Flowers minute, pink, nearly sessile in the axils of the leaves, mostly 4-parted. 

 In moist soil. 



