158 PORTULACACEAE. 



green, in clusters, crowded, sessile. Sepals united at base. Petals and stam- 

 ens as in Paronychia. Fruit a 1-seeded indehiscent achene, with a thin peri- 

 carp, enclosed in the calyx. (Latin hernia, a rupture, which one species was 

 thought to cure.) 



1. H. cinerea DC. Tiny erect plants, 1 to 2% in. high, or sometimes 

 matted, branched from base, the branches bearing 2-ranked branchlets; herb- 

 age hispidulous ; leaves oblong-oblanceolate, l 1 /^ to 2% lines long; flowers in 

 all the axils, even the lowest; calyx % line long, very hispid. 



San Joaquin region at the edge of the foothills on either side of the valley; 

 naturalized from southern Europe. May- June. 



13. PENTACAENA Bartl. 



Tufted perennials with subulate pungent leaves and silvery-hyaline stipules. 

 Flowers sessile, clustered in the axils. Sepals 5, almost distinct, very unequal, 

 hooded, the 3 outer larger, and with a stout divergent terminal spine, the 2 

 inner smaller and with a shorter spine. Petals minute, scale-like. Stamens 3 

 to 5, inserted at the base of the sepals. .Style very short, bifid. Utricle en- 

 closed in the rigid persistent calyx. (Greek pente, five, and akaina, a thorn, 

 the five sepals spine-tipped.) 



1. P. ramosissima H. & A. Sand Mat. Stems prostrate, forming dense 

 mats 5 to 18 in. broad, pubescent; leaves crowded on the stems, 3 lines long, 

 the stipules % or sometimes nearly as long; calyx l 1 /? to 2 lines long; sepals 

 hairy or woolly below the divergent spinose apex; utricle apiculate. 



Along the entire Calif ornian coast; common on the San Francisco sand 

 hills. Apr.-May. 



14. PARONYCHIA L. Whitlow-wort. 



Prostrate tufted perennial, with scarious stipules and clustered flowers. 

 Sepals 5, linear or oblong, concave or cucullate under the apex, the very tip 

 aristate or cuspidate. Petals filament-like, or minute teeth, or none. Stamens 

 5, alternating with the petals when these are present, inserted on the base of 

 the sepals. Ovary 1-ovuled. Fruit a utricle enclosed in the persistent calyx, 

 at length bursting longitudinally. (Greek paronuchia, a whitlow or felon, the 

 name applied to an herb used as a remedy.) 



1. P. chilensis DC. Stems long, tough, with short internodes from a 

 tufted crown, prostrate; leaves oblanceolate, acute, cuspidate, 2 to 4 lines long, 

 iimrli crowded on the branches and branchlets, especially towards the ends; 

 stipules hyaline; flowers obviously pediceled, 3 or 4 in the axils. — (P. francis- 

 cana Eastw.) 



Hilltops in western San Francisco; introduced from South America where 

 it is native. Apr.- June. 



PORTULACACEAE. Purslane Family. 



Low lierl.s with succulent entire leaves and regular perfect flowers. Calyx 

 chorisepaloua (synsepaloua in Portulaca). Sepals 2 (or in Lewisia 4 to 8), 

 fewer than the petals. Petals 3 to 16, often 5. Stamens 3 to 20, sometimes 

 more numerous. Ovary commonly superior; styles 2 to 8, united below or dis- 

 tinct, stigmatic along the inside. Ih-uit a 1 celled capsule, dehiscent from the 

 apes l>y 2 or 3 valves, or circumscissile, the top falling away as a lid. 



A. Capsule circumscissile. 

 Sepala 2, united below and partly adherent to the ovary, the free upper portion deciduous; 

 capsule opening at the middle by a lid 1. Portulaca. 



