CARYOPHYLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY) 137 
pedicels droop as soon as the seed begins to form. Pod or 
capsule with five valves, which are opposite the sepals. Seeds 
many, dull black, small, round, flat, sharply margined, rough- 
ened with very minute pimples; they are a frequent impurity 
of grass and clover seed; also they possess long vitality when 
lying dormant in dry soil. (Fig. 88.) 
Means of control 
Prevent seed development. In some cases ground infested with 
Spurry may profitably be grazed off by sheep while the plants are 
young. Among crops in which hoe-cutting is impracticable, a five- 
per-cent solution of Copper sulfate, applied when the plants are 
about half-grown or even when they are in first bloom, will prevent 
the formation of seed. Land fouled with seeds of Spurry should 
be put to a well-tilled hoed crop before being seeded with grain or 
clover. 
THYME-LEAVED SANDWORT 
Arenaria serpyllifolia, L. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to August. 
Seed-time: June to September. : 
Range: Throughout North America except 
the far North. 
Habitat: Dry soil; waste places. 
A very slender, much-branched, and spread- 
ing little plant. Not an aggressive weed 
but merely doing its best to cover dry and 
sterile soil, that is unsuited to plants of 
more worth. Stems two to eight inches high, 
light green, and rough-hairy. Leaves op- 
posite, sessile, ovate, acute, hardly more than 
a quarter-inch long. Flowers many, very 
small, white, in leafy, cymose panicles; 
sepals five, lance-shaped, pointed, bristly on 
the back, about as long as ‘the petals, which | Fic. 89.—Thyme- 
leaved Sandwort 
are also five, oblong or obovate. Stamens Giraaaela dernulle 
ten, with lilac anthers. Styles three. The folia). x}. 
