PURSLANE FAMILY 
PORTULACACEZ 
ALTHOUGH the Purslane family is a compara- 
tively large group it contain$ but two species of 
wild flowers which are widely distributed in the 
United States. The characters of the family are 
fairly well illustrated by the familiar Pussley, one 
of the worst of our garden weeds, and the almost 
equally familiar Portulacca of our flower-beds. 
The latter is indeed very closely related to the 
former, and in some localities it has escaped from 
gardens to become a wild flower. Most of the 
members of this family have more or less thick- 
ened leaves and stems and the flowers are com- 
monly composed of two sepals, four or five petals, 
an equal number of stamens and one pistil. 
Sprinc Beauties. Two species of Spring 
Beauty or Claytonia commonly occur in the 
United States. The Virginia Spring Beauty 
has a wider distribution than the Carolina Spring 
Beauty and is the species most commonly found in 
the middle and western states. In New England 
and the eastern region generally the Carolina 
form is the one usually present. The two species 
resemble each other, differing chiefly in the shape 
of the leaves: in the Virginian form these are 
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