282 DECANDRIA DECAGYNIA 



the base of the ovary; anthers often purple. Capsule with 5 ovoid acuminate 

 spreading lobes, beaked by the short persistent styles. Seeds obovoid-clliptic, 

 acute at base, scabrous, pale straw color. 



Jlab. Swampy rivulets, and ditches : frequent. Fl. July— Aug. />. Sept.— Oct. 



Obs. The only species of the genus In the U. States. 



224. SEDUM. /.. JStutt. Gen. 422. 

 [Latin, scdo, to sit; the plants often apparently silting on naked rocks] 



Calyx mostly 6-parted, or rather 5-sepalled ; sepals often turgid and 

 leaf-like. Petals mostly 5. Stamens twice the number of the petals. 

 Carpels 6, superior, opening on the inner side, each with a nectarifer- 

 ous scale at base. Seeds numerous. 



Herbaceous and fleshy, or suffruticose : leaves alternate, or subverticillate, flat, 

 or terete ; flowers mostly terminal and cymose. Sat. Ord. \\7. CrassulaOBJ*. 



1. S. ternatum, Mx. Creeping ; assurgent ; leaves Hat, the lower 

 ones spatulatc-obovatc, tcrnately verticillate, the upper ones lance-ob- 

 long, scattered; cymes terminal, mostly 3-spikcd ; flowers generally oc- 

 tandrous, with a solitary decandrous one in the bosom of the spikes. 

 Beck, Hot. p. 133. 

 S. portulacoides, MuhL Catal, p. 46. 



Tern-ate Sedum. Vulgo — Stone crop. Purslane-leaved House-leek. 



Root perennial. Stem 2 to 4 or 5 inches long) assurgent, somewhat scabrous 

 with minute elevated white scales. Leaves half an inch to an inch long, anil one 

 fourth of an inch to half an inch wide, entire, fleshy, the lower ones spatulate-ovate, 

 or obovate, sometimes nearly rhomboid, tapering at base almost to a petiole ; the 

 upper ones lance-oblong, obtuse, sessile,— all of them a little produced at the base. 

 Fiotcers sessile, bracteate and secund,— usually in 3 spreading or recurved spikes, 

 of 1 to 3 inches in length, arranged verticillately at the summit of the stems, with a 

 single sessile flower in the centre. Sepals linear-oblong, obtuse. Petals white, 

 lance-linear, about twice as long as the sepals. Stamens shorter than the petals ; 

 filaments smooth, dilated at base ; anthers sagittate-cordate, purplish black. Car- 

 pels often 4, ovoid-oblong, acuminate by the persistent styles. Seeds elliptic-obo- 

 void, longitudinally striate with ferruginous ribs. 



Hub. Shaded rocky banks of streams ; Ridley creek : rare. Fl. May. /V. June. 



Obs. The sepals and petals are mostly 4, and the stamens 8, in all the flowers 

 except the central one at the base of the spikes. This is a rare plant with us ; and 

 has only been found in the above locality,— where it was collected by Mr. Gkorob 

 W. Hall, in 183i Three or four additional species are enumerated in the V. 

 States. 



[Oxalis. Geranium. Monadelphia Decandria.} 



Order 5. Dccagynia. 



225. PHYTOLACCA. L. JYW. Gen. 424. 

 [Gr. Phyton, a plant, and La.hanon, a pot-herb ; the young shoots being so used.] 



Perianth corolla-like, deeply 5-parted, or rather 5-petallcd. Ovary 

 superior. Berry 10-cclled, 10-seeded. 



Herbaceous, or rarely fmticose : leaves alternate, without stipules; floweri 

 racemose ; racemes often opposite the leaves. Nat. Ord. IH. Lindl. Phytclacceje. 



