140 CRASSTTLACE^. (ORPINE FAMILT.) 



Petals imbricated in the bud (rarely wanting), inserted, with the distinct 

 stamens, on the base of the calyx. Pistils distinct (united below in Pen- 

 thorum), usually with a little scale at the base of each, forming pods (folli- 

 cles) which open along the inner suture. Seeds anatropous : the straight 

 embryo surrounded by thin albumen. Flowers usually cymose, small. 

 Leaves chiefly sessile. 



Synopsis. 



* Pistils entirely separate. (True Crassulacese.) 



1. TUjLiEA. Sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils 3 or 4, distinct. 



2. SEDUM. Sepals, petals, and pistils 4 or 5, distinct. Stamens 10-8. 



* * Pistils united below into a 5-ceUed many-seeded pod. 



3. PENTEOBUM. Sepals 5. Petals commonly none. Stamens 10. Pod 5-beaked. 



1. TIliLijEA, L. TiLLiEA. 



Sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils 3 or 4. Pods 2 - many-seeded. — Very 

 small tufted annuals, witli opposite entire leaves and axillary flowers. (Named 

 in honor of Tilli, an early Italian botanist. ) 



1. T. simplex, Nutt. Booting at ^hebase (l'-2'high); leaves linear- 

 oblong ; flowers solitary, nearly sessile ; calyx Jialf the length of the (greenish- 

 white) petals and the naiTow 8-10-seeded pods, the latter with a scale at the 

 base of each. (T. ascendens, Eaton.) — Muddy river-banks, Nantucket to E. 

 Penn. July - Sept. 



3. SEDUM, L. Stone-ceop. Obpinf,. 



Sepals and petals 4 or 5. Stamens 8 or 10. Pods many-seeded; a little 

 scale at the base of each. — Chiefly perennial, smooth, and thick-leaved herbs, 

 with the flowers cymose or one-sided. (Name from sedeo, to sit, alluding to the 

 manner in which these plants fix themselves upon rocks and walls.) 

 * Flowers one-sided on the spreading branches of the cyme j forming a sort of spike, 



mostly with 4 petals, ^c. and 8 stamens, while the central flower commonly has 5 



petals, ^c. and 10 stamens. 



1. S. pulctielllim, Michx. Stems ascending (4' -12' high) ; leaves lin- 

 ear, nearly terete, scattered; spikes of the cyme several, densely flowered; paals 

 rose-purple, lanceolate. — Mountains of Virginia, Kentucky, and southward. 



2. S. ternatum. (Thkee-leaved Stone-ceop.) Stems spreading 

 (3'- 6' high); leaves flat, the lower whorled in threes, wedgeobovate, the upper 

 scattered, oblong ; cyme 3-spiked, leafy ; petals white, linear-lanceolate. Rocky 

 woods, Penn., to Illinois and southward. May, June. Also in gardens. 



# * Flowei's in close cymes, uniformly \0-androus: leaves flat. 



3. S. tclcpMoides, Michx. ("WiLn Oepine or Live-fok-evee.) 

 Stems ascending (6' -12' high), stout, leafy to the top; leaves oblong or oval, 

 entire or sparingly toothed, scattered ; cyme small ; petals fesh-color, ovate-lan- 

 ceolate, taper-pointed ; pods tapering into a slender style. — Dry rocks, Alleghany 

 Monntams, from Maryland southward, and sparingly in New Jersey? W. New 

 York 1 and Indiana. June. 



