CARPET-WEED FAMILY. 149 



mens 5, hypogynous and alternate with the sepals, or 3 and alternate with the 

 cells of the ovary. Stigmas 3. Capsule 3-eelled, 3-valved, loculieidally dehis- 

 eentj the partitions breaking away from the many-seeded axis. (Ancient Latin 

 name for some soft plant.) 



1. M. verticillata L. Indian Chick-weed. Prostrate, forming patches, 

 not fleshy; loaves obovate or spatulate, entire, clustered in whorls of 5 or 6, 

 unequal, 7 lines long or loss; flowers several at each node; sepals oblong; 

 capsule ovoid, scarcely exserted from the calyx; seeds reniform, shining, 

 nearly smooth, obviously striate, crowded in the capsule and irregularly dis- 

 tending its walls, which are thus roughened. 



Sparingly naturalized from Mexico: Russian River (Healdsburg, Alice 

 Kin a. 1897, to Duncan Mills, Davy, 1896) ; Orange Co., ace. Abrams, 1904; Los 

 Angeles, Davidson, 1893 ; Princeton, Chandler, 1905; Newcastle (Zoe, iv, 152) ; 

 upper Sacramento, Brewer, 1862; Stillwater (Shasta Co.), M. S. Baker, 1898. 



2. GLINUS L. 



Annual herbs with whorled petioled leaves; very near Mollugo. Flowers 

 pedicelled in dense glomerules in the upper axils. Stamens 5 to 10 or more. 

 Seeds with a strophiole, the funiculus very long and slender. (Greek name of 

 Theophrastus for a maple, application to this genus unknown.) 



1. G. lotoides L. Diffusely branched from the base, the stems 4 to 8 

 in. long, procumbent or ascending; leaves 3 to 6 lines long, orbicular to obo- 

 vate, rounded at apex or abruptly acute, at base narrowed to a slender petiole; 

 flowers 2 lines long; seeds blackish, granulated. 



Naturalized from Europe: Lathrop, Mrs. K. Brandegee; Chico, Parry; 

 Lakeport (Zoe, iv, 153). 



3. CYPSELEA Turp. 



Inconspicuous prostrate annual with opposite leaves and scarious laciniate 

 stipules. Tube of calyx short, campanulate, the lobes (in ours) 5, ovate, un- 

 equal. Petals none. Stamens 1 to 3. Ovary superior, 1-celled; style 2-cleft. 

 Fruit a subglobose circumscissile capsule. Seeds minute, smoothish, the funi- 

 culi persistent on the central placenta. (Greek kupsele, a beehive, which the 

 capsule is thought to resemble.) 



1. C. humifusa Turp. Stems much branched and matted, the plants 1 or 

 2 in. broad; leaves 2 to 6 lines long, oblong or elliptical, obtuse, the petioles 

 slender, nearly as long as the blade, those of each pair very unequal; stamens 

 3, rarely 1, inserted opposite the sinuses. 



West Indian weed naturalized in low lands: lower San Joaquin; Aptos, 

 Parry. Aug. 



4. SESUVIUM L. 



Fleshy decumbent or prostrate herbs with opposite leaves and no stipules. 

 Flowers solitary in the axils, sessile or shortly pediceled. Calyx-tube turbinate, 

 the lobes 5, purplish, oblong, obtuse. Petals none. Stamens (in ours) numer- 

 ous, inserted on the calyx, united by their filaments into sets. Ovary 3 to 5- 

 celled, with as many separate styles. Capsule membranous, the upper part 

 falling off as a lid. Seeds smooth. Embryo annular. 



1. S. sessile Pers. Lowland Purslane. Stems prostrate, freely branch- 

 ing, 1 to 3 ft. long; herbage finely warty; leaves broadly spatulate, % to 2 

 in. long; flowers 4 to 5 lines long; sepals ovate-lanceolate, commonly acumi- 

 nate, 3 lines long; filaments united for about one-half their length. — (S. por- 

 tulacastrum, Bot. Cal.) 



