314 POLYANDUIA MOKOQYN1A 



Hub. I\l i v a-slate hills, ami Serpentine rocks : rare. FL June. Fr. July- Aug. 



Obs. This plant is pretty much confined to our dry Mica-slate hills-ami even 

 Owe it is not often found with the terminal fewflowered corymbs, and Urge 

 petals. The H. ramuhjlorum, Ms. is, however, very common in those locfclllto; 

 and the more I have examined it, the more I am disposed to think it is only a 

 peculiar state (or at most* witty.) of the 11. canadense. The H. ramuliflomm 

 to generally mcrj erect, with the flowers small, in axillary glomerules, or very 

 much crowded on short leafy lateral branches, often epetaious, or rarely with 

 thill le petals ; but otherwise seems to be essentially the same plant. 1 have oc- 

 casionally seen it nearly destitute oflatera) branches, and with lame petals in the 

 terminal flowers. Mr. Elliott suspected their affinity ; and the remarks of Prof. 

 7/ <•/.</. sustained by my own observation?, induce me, at present, to consider, the 

 }■. uii lomm as nothing more than a m aliflcation or variety of 11. canadtnse. 

 i m.;\ e also ( oliected specimens, near .M r. John P. Steel* '*. in West Bradford, which 

 come near the description ofH. corymbosum\ but whether they are really more 

 liian a variety of the present species, I have not been aide to determine. Three or 

 four additional species are enumerated in the U. states. 



Prof. Eaton and Dr. Bigelow have noticed the formation, in freezing weather, 

 of curiously curved iee-chrystals near the root of H. canadens*. I have not obser- 

 ved them in that plant ; but have seen them very beautiful in the Cunila mariana, 

 0T Dittany. IWr. Elliott, also, remarked the same phenomenon in the CiMyza 

 bifnms. Yi>k Ell Sfc. 2. ;>. VBL~] 



245. PORTULACA, /,. Mttt. Gen. 457. 



[A name of obscure and uncertain derivation.] 



Qali/9 aJnate to the base of the ovary, 2-parted, finally tircumsefesed ai 

 kuse and deciduous. Petals mostly 5, inserted on the calyx. Stamens 

 S to 15. Stigmas 3 to 8. Capsule subglobosc, 1 -celled, drcumscisaed, 

 man \ -seeded. 



HerbacsoW aJid fleshy: leaves alternate, or opposite, entire ; flowers axillary, 

 or terminating the branches, solitary, or aggregated. Nat. Ord. 111. Lint I. 



POKTl LACfejS. 



1. P. oleracea, /,. Leaves oblong-cuneate, obtuse, fleshy, smooth ; 

 axils and joints nuked ; flowers sessile. licck\ Bot. />. 130, 

 OiKiiACKots, on Pot-herb Poutulaca. Vulgo — Purslane. 

 Gall — Pourpicr potager. Germ. — Der Portulak. Hisp. — Verdoliga. 



Rgat annual. Stem bio 12 or 15 inches long, fleshy, terete, glabrous, mostly 

 purple, prostrate, branched, with the summit a little assurgent. Leaves half an 

 nub to near an inch long, and 1 fourth to 1 third of an inch wide, fleshy and 

 Miiooth, subscssile, alternate and opposite, rather crowded near the flowers* 

 J- loirers in small clusters, axillary and terminal, bracteate at base. Culyx 8- 

 1 arted, compressed at apex. Petals yellow, obovate-oblong, obtuse, or emarginate, 

 longei than the calyx, slightly connate at base. Stamens 10 or 12, shorter than 

 the petals, and adhering to them at base. Stigmas 5. Capsule opening horizon- 

 tally, the base persistent. Seeds sub reniform, with a small beak on one side, 

 rou^hish-punctate, dark purple. 



Hob. Gardens, and cultivated grounds : common. Fl. July— Aug, Fr. Sept. 



Obs. Mr*NuttaU says this is indigenous on the saline and denudated plains of 

 the Missouri ; but it is undoubtedly, I think, an introduced plant here. It is some- 

 times, though rarely, used as a pot-herb; and is rather a troublesome weed in our 

 gardens. No other species is known in the U. States. 



