54 FAM. 66, 67. 



same number as the petals; ovary 1 -celled, styles and stigmas 

 2-5; fruit a capsule. 



Leaves with scarious or bristle-like stipules; flowers sometimes with an 

 involucre; petals 4-6, fugacious; stamens 7-many; ovary partly 

 or wholly inferior, style 3-8 parted. Dry soil. Summer., - Portulaca 



P. pilosa. More or less villous; leaves numerous, linear-subulate; sepals narrowly 

 oblong; corolla pink or purple; stamens 15-25. 



P. oleracea, Purslane, Pusley. Leaves fleshy, cuneate or obovate; sepals acute, 

 keeled; corolla yellow; stamens 8-12. Cultivated. 



The latter species is also cultivated in pots in improved strains. — Another culti- 

 vated species is P. grandiflora, Rose-moss, with several bright-colored 

 varieties. 



66. Alsinaceae, Chickweed Family. 



Herbs, sometimes shrubby at the base, with opposite, 

 entire leaves; sepals 4-5, persistent; petals 4-5 or none; 

 stamens twice as many as the sepals, or less; ovary 1-celled, 

 rarely 2-5 celled, and styles 2-5; fruit a capsule. 



1. Stipules present, forming a bristly mass; flowers in terminal clusters 

 of 3-6; sepals and petals 5 each; stamens and styles 3 each. Pine- 

 land. Spring. - _____ Stipulicida setacea 



1. Stipules wanting; petals 2-cleft or 2-parted. - 2 



2. Flowers in more or less open cymes; sepals 5 or 4; petals 5 or 4, white; 



stamens 10 or less, hypogynous; styles 3 or 4; capsules ovoid, 



Alsine (Stellaria), Chickweed 

 A. media has petals shorter than sepals. All kinds of soil. Throughout the year. 

 A. Baldwinii (Stellaria prostrata) has petals longer than sepals. Moist soil. 

 Spring. 

 2. Flowers in forking cymes; sepals 5 rarely 4, and petals as many, white, 

 notched or cleft above the middle; stamens 10 or less, styles as 

 many as sepals and petals; capsules cylindrical, fluted. Along 

 the roadside. Spring to Fall. Cerastium vulgatum, Mouse-ear Chickweed 



67. Caryophyllaceae, Pink Family. 



Erect herbs, enlarged at the nodes, with exstipulate, 

 opposite leaves; flowers perfect; 4-5 sepals united into a 

 toothed tube; 4-5 petals with narrow claws; stamens twice 

 as many as the petals; ovary 1-celled, styles 2-5; corolla, 

 stamens and ovary are inserted on a columnar prolonga- 

 tion of the receptacle; fruit a capsule. 



1. Styles 2, 2 



1. Styles 3, rarely 4, ---------- Silene 



S. antirrhina, Sleepy Catchfly, with sticky patches on the upper internodes; 



leaves linear to elliptic; calyx-tube delicately ribbed; petals deeply notched 



at the apex, the tips white or pink; stamens 10. In fields. Early Summer. — 



A very slender variety with much inflated calyx-tube is the S. linaria. 



1. Styles 5, -_--_____- Agrostemma 



A. Githago, Corn Cockle, with forking stem and linear leaves; calyx-tube 10- 



