262 ' Oedeb 21.— OARYOPHTLLACE^. 



14. POLYCARPON, L. All-sbed. (Gr. TroXvg, many, Kaprrdf, fruit. 

 The capsules are numerous.) Sepals 5, ovate, carinate, scarious-edged ; 

 capsule 3-valved, many-seeded. — ® Lvs. opposite and quaternate on the 

 low spreading branches. 



P. tetraph;^lluni L. Lvs. spatulate or oval, tapering to a petiole, some of them 

 in whorls of 4 ; stam. 3. — Around Charleston, S. Car. A low, much branched 

 plant, st3. 3 to 6" high. Lvs. 2 to 5" long. Stip. several at each joint, ovate- 

 lauoeolate, membraneous. Fls. small, in dense cymes. Pet. much shorter than 

 Sep., notched, white. May, Jn. § Eur. 



15. STIPULICIDA, Michx. (Lat. stipula, ccedo ; the stipules being 

 much cleft.) Sepals oblong, with broad, scarious margins ; petals 5, as 

 long as the sepals, entire ; stigmas 3, subsessile ; capsule subglobous, 

 3-valved, few-seeded. — (D A slender, tufted, dichotomously branched 

 hei-b, almost leafless, with the small fls. in terminal cymnles. 



S. seticea Mx. la dry, sandy soils, Ga. (Feay, Mettauer) and Fla^ (Chapman). 

 Sts. many from one root, glabrous, 6 to 10' high, each several times forked, slen- 

 der, the branches almost setaceous. Root lvs. roundish-obovate, narrowed to a 

 petiole, 1" diam. Joints distant, each marked by a fringe of leaves and stipules 

 J" long. Fls. sessile, 4 to 6 together, green and white, at length . reddish. Hay. 



i6. PARONtCHIA, Tourn. Nailwort. (Gr. -napa, with, ovv^, the 

 nail ; i. e., the whitlow ; supposed cure for.) Sepals 5, linear-oblong, 

 connivent, slightly hooded and mucronate or awned near the apex; 

 petals or sterile filaments very narrow and scale-like or none ; stam. 2, 

 3, or 5 ; stigmas 2 ; with the styles more or less united into 1 ; utricle 

 1-seeded, not exceeding the calyx. — Low herbs dichotomously branched, 

 with scarious, silvery stipules, and at least the lower lvs. opposite. 



§ Pakontchia. Sepals evidently awned at apex. Lvs. linear and subulate Noa. 1, 2 



§ Anychia (Mx. partly). Sep. merely mucronate at ap.ex. Lvs. lanceolate to oval.(*) 



* Stems procumbent, diffuse on the ground. Stamens 5. No.<). 3, 4 



* Stems erect, with diffusely ascending branches. Stamens 2 or S. . .Nos. 6, 6 



1 P. dichotoma Nutt. Glabrous, densely branched; lvs. acerose, mucronate; 

 bracts like the leaves ; cymes fastigiate, with no central flower; sep. 3-vemed, cus- 

 pidate. — 11- Rocks (Harper's Ferry), Va, and Car. to Ark., rare. Densely matted 

 and branched, the flowering stems 6 to 12' high. Lvs. crowded, 1' by J". Sty. 

 bifid at top. Minute setse in place of petals. Jl. — ^Nov. 



2 P. argyrocoma Nutt. Pubescent, tufted, decumbent; lvs. linear, acute; cymes 

 glomerate, terminal ; fls. enveloped in dry, silvery bracts : sep. hairy, 1-veined, 

 setaceously cuspidate. — % White Mts., N. H., in the gorge behind the Willey 

 house (Chapman) and in the AUegh. and Cumb. Mts. Flowering stems 4 to 10' 

 high. Lvs. crowded, 6 to 10" long. — Fls. concealed in the bracts; the cusp 

 equaling the sepals. JL 



3 P. herniarioldes Nutt. Scabrous, diffusely branched ; his. oval or oblong, 

 mucronate; the raminai alternate. Fls. sessile in the axils of the leaves; sep. 

 3-veined, merely mucronate. — % N. Car. (Miss Carpenter) to Ga., in sandy soU. 

 A little depressed plant, spreading on the sand, with minute lvs. and fls. 

 Branches alternate with 1-sided branchleta. Lvs. 3 — 2 — 1" long, J as wide, 

 stip. shorter. Fls. J" long. 



4 P. Bald-winii Torr. & Gr. Difiusely branched, procumbent ; lvs. linear- 

 lanceolate, very acute, all opposite; fls. longer than the setaceous stipules, mostly 

 terminal, stalked ; stam. B. — Fla. (Mettauer), in dry fields. Sts. more openly 

 branched, many from the same root, covering a curcular spot 12 — 20' diam. 

 Lvs. few, 3 — 8" long, J — 2" wide, sessile. Fls. a J larger than in No. 3. Oct. 



5 P. Canadensis. Stem erect, slender, pubescent, many times forked, with 

 slender or capillary branches ; lvs. lanceolate, varying to oblanceolate ; the 



