54 CAKYOPIIYLLACELE. 



5, sometimes 10. Styles 3, short. Capsule 3-valved, 

 3-celled, the partitions breaking away from the many-seeded 

 axis. — Low homely annuals, with apparently vtrticillate leaves, 

 and small white solitary floicers. 



M. VERTICTLLATA, L. Carpet-weed. 



Stems prostrate, dichotornous : leaves cuncaform or spatulate; pedicels 1 -flowered, 

 eubumbcllate. 



Cultivated grounds, pavements, &c; common. June — Sept. A small prostrate, 

 annual. St* m < 4 to 12 inches long, spreading in all directions. At every joint 

 stands a whorl of wedge-shaped or spatulate leaves of unequal size, usually 5 in 

 number. Flowers few, solitary, on short slender stalks, small, white. 



Sub-order III. ILLECEBRE^E. Knot-wort Family. 



Small weeds differing from Alsineos only in having scab- 

 rous stipules, flowers with inconspicuous petals, the upper- 

 most leaves rarely alternate, and the 1-celled pods sometimes 

 1-seecled. 



10. ANYCHIA. Michx. 



Gr. onux, the finger nails; a supposed remedy for the whitlow. 



Sepals 5, scarcely concave, indistinctly mucronate on the 

 back, greenish. Petals none. Stamens 2 to 3, rarely 5. 

 Styles 2, very short. Utricle 1-seeded, enclosed in the 

 sepals. — Small a nnualh &rbs } w it/i m a ny times forked bra nches, 

 stipulate leaves, and minute white flowers. 



A. dichotoma, Michx. Forked Chick 



Stem crest or spreading, dichotomously branched; leaves varying from lanceo- 

 late to elliptical, somewhat petioled ; flowers solitary, terminal and axillary. 



Dry soils. July, Aug. Stem 6 to 12 inches high, round, slender, pubescent 

 above with forked filiform branches. Leaves small, those of the stem opposite, the 

 branches alternate. Flowers very minute, in the forks of the sUni greenish. A 

 rariable plant. 



11. SPERGULA. Linn. Spurrey. 



Lat. sjyergo, to scatter; from the dispersion of the seeds. 



Sepals 5, nearly distinct. Petals 5, large, entire. Sta- 

 mens 5 to 10. Styles 5. Capsules ovate, 5-cellcd, 5-valved, 

 the valves opposite the sepals. — Annual herbs, with -narrow 

 stipulate leaves in whorls, and eymosc white flowers. 



1. S. ARVENSIS, L. Com Spurrey. 



Leaves awl-shapcd-lincar, numerous in the whorls, with minute interposed sti- 

 pules, often clustered in the axils; fltwers in a compound cyme, slender, stalked. 



Grain-fields, and sandy places. June— Aug. Introduced. Stem 8 to 12 inches 

 high, swelling at the jtiats. Leaves narrow. Cyme forked, the terminal (central) 



