154 CARYOPHYLLACEAE. 



Common weed along fence lines and ditches and shaded half-waste places 

 generally. Feb. -May. Stems with a pubescent line, and petioles of lower 

 leaves hairy. 



2. S. nitens Nutt. Erect, with very slender stems, branching above, 3 to 

 7 in. high, glabrous or slightly hairy below; leaves linear, acute, sessile, 2 to 7 

 lines long, or the lowest ovate, 1 to 3 lines long, abruptly contracted into 

 slender petioles nearly twice as long; inflorescence strict, the pedicels erect, 

 % in. long or less or some of the flowers quite sessile; bracts scarious; sepals 

 scarious-margined, subulate-lanceolate, 2 lines long; petals % as long as the 

 sepals, sometimes none; capsule oblong, nearly as long as the calyx. 



Grassy hillsides and plains, a somewhat obscure plant, occurring from Solano 

 Co. southward to Southern California. Apr.-May. 



3. S. littoralis Torr. Pubescent, ascending, stoutish, the stems 1 to 2 ft. 

 long; leaves ovate, acute, rounded at the sessile base, % to % or 1 to iy 2 in. 

 long; flowers in a terminal compound cyme; sepals lanceolate, acute, 2 lines 

 long, slightly shorter than the petals; capsule included within the calyx. 



Bogs or marshes, seacoast only: Pt. Lobos; Pt. Eeyes; Dillon's Beach. 

 June. 



6. ARENARIA L. Sandwort. 



Low branching annuals or tufted or prostrate perennials with mostly lanceo- 

 late or subulate sessile often rigid leaves. Flowers white. Sepals 5. Petals 5, 

 entire. Stamens 10. Styles 3. Capsule globose or short-oblong, dehiscent 

 into as many entire or 2-cleft valves as there are styles. (Latin arena, sand, 

 in which many species grow.) 



Low annuals. 



Leaves lanceolate, rather broad at the very base, 2 lines long 1. A. calif ornica. 



Leaves filiform, 3 to 5 lines long 2. A. douglasii. 



Perennials. 



Sepals l / 2 the length of the petals; palustrine 3. A. paludicola. 



Sepals exceeding the petals; montane 4. A. macrophylla. 



1. A. calif ornica Brewer. Glabrous annual, 1 to 4 in. high, diffusely 

 branching from the base, the stems delicate and filiform; leaves very short, 

 slightly fleshy, 1 to 2 lines in length, obtuse; corolla 3 lines in diameter; 

 petals oblong, 1% times the length of the ovate-oblong sepals; seeds small, 

 finely roughened. 



Gravelly hillslopes or disintegrating rock outcroppings in the Coast Eanges 

 from Mt. Hamilton to Napa Co. and northward; Marysville Buttes. Apr. 



2. A. douglasii Fenzl. Annual, nearly glabrous, sometimes viscid-glandu- 

 lar; stems much branched, 2 to 6 in. high; leaves filiform, 3 to 5 lines long or 

 the lowermost longer; peduncles filiform; flowers numerous, 4 to 5 lines in 

 diameter; sepals oblong-ovate, narrowly thin-margined; petals obovate, con- 

 spicuous; capsule sub-globose; valves rounded at the apex; seeds large, smooth, 

 compressed-reniform, acutely margined. 



Sterile soil of hillsides: Coast Eanges and Sierra Nevada. Apr.-May. 



3. A. paludicola Robinson. Glabrous flaccid plant, the stems several, pro- 

 cumbent, rooting at the lower joints, silicate, shining, leafy throughout; leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, acute, % to l 1 /-* in. long, somewhat connate, slightly scab- 

 rous upon the margins; peduncles solitary in the axils. 1 to 2 in. long, spread- 

 ing or somewhat deflexed; sej»als elliptic, nerveless, herbaceous, 1^ to 2 lines 

 Long, about half the length of the obovate petals; capsule oblong, shorter than 

 the calyx. — (A. palustris Wats, not of Gay.) 



