$6 PORTULACEiB. 



1. PORTULACA. Tourn. Purslane. 



Sepals united to the ovary below, 2-parted. Stamens I 

 to 20. Style mostly 5-cleft. Capsule globular, many 

 seeded, opening transversely, the upper part (with the uppe: 

 part of the calyx) separating like a lid. — Low herbaceous 

 fleshy annuals, with scattered leave?, and some species with 

 thowy brilliant flowers expanding only in smishine. 



1. P. oleracea, L. Common Purslane. 



leaves wedge-form, obtuse, fleshy, smooth ; axils geniculated, naked : floven 

 ae&sile ; stamens 10 to 12. 



Gardens, and cultivated grounds; common. May — Aug. Stem fleshy, much 

 branched and spreading, smooth. Leaves and stems of a reddish-green color. 

 Flowers in clusters, axillary and terminal, small, pale-yellow. Introduced. 



2. P. PILOSA, Scarlet-flowered Purslane. 



Stems ascending, much branched; branches sub-erect, enlarged upwards: tew 

 linear, obtuse, the axils vUlose with long woolly hairs; flowers terminal, sessile, 1 

 op few together, surrounded by an irregular circle of leaTes and dense tufts of 

 wool ; petals obovate ; stamens about 15. A very delicate popular garden plant 

 with showy crimson and scarlet flowers, V/ 2 inches in diameter. Native of B, 

 Africa. 



2. CLAYTONIA. L. Spring-beauty. 



In honor of John Clayton, a botanist of Virginia. 



Sepals 2, ovate or roundish, persistent. Petals 5 emar- 

 ginate or obtuse. Stamens 5, inserted on the claws of the 

 petals. Style 3-cleft. Capsule 1-celled, 3-valved, 2 to 

 5-seeded. — Our species are small, fleshy, delicate perennials, 

 sending up simple stems 7 in early spring, with a pair of 

 opposite leaves, and a loose raceme of pretty flowers. 



1. C. VlRGlNlCA, L. Virginian Spring-beauty. 



Leaves mostly 2, linear, or lance-linear, elongated and attenuated into a petiole 

 below ; raceme simple, loose, at length elongated ; peduncle slender, nodding ; petal* 

 obovate, mostly emarginate or retuse. 



Low moist grounds. March — May. Tubercle as large as a hazle-nut, deep in the 

 ground. Scape 6 to 8 inches long, weak with a pair of opposite narrow leaves, 3 to 

 • inches long. Flowers 6 to 10 rose-colored, with deeper colored veins. 



2. C Caroliniana, Michx. Spring-beauty. 



Leaves ovate-lanceolate or oval, somewhat spatulate, or abruptly decurrent into 

 a petiole; peduncles slender, nodding; sepals and petals very obtuse. 



Woods and rocky hills ; common. April, May. Foot a compressed brown tuber- 

 «le, buried at a depth into the ground, equal to the height of the plant. Foot- 

 hones very few, if any, spatulate. Stem weak, 4 to 8 inches high, with a pair of 

 opposite leaves half-way up. Flowers in a terminal cluster, white with a slight 

 tteif • of red and beautifully pencilled with purple line*. 



