98 ELATINACEjE. elatine. 



BERGIA. 



or compound scorpioid spikes. Sepals 2, mostly unequal, ovate 

 or orbicular, more or less scarious. Petals 2-4. Stamens 1-3, 

 shorter than the petals and alternate with them. Capsule mem- 

 branaceous 2-valved, 6-12-seeded. Seeds black and shining, cir- 

 cinate, compressed, on filiform funiculi of unequal length, rising 

 from the base of the cell 



C. roseum Watson Bot. King 44 t. 6. figs. 6-8. Diffusely branched : 

 stems decumbent, 1-3 fiiches long: leaves oblong-spatulate, attenuate at 

 the base: sepals very unequal, nearly orbicular, 1-3 lines broad: petals 

 minute, rounded-oblong: capsule oblong-ovate, shorter than the calyx: 

 style very short. Southeastern Oregon to Nevada and California. 



Order XIII. ELATINACE.E Lindl. Nat. Syst. ed. 2, 88. 



Low annuals with opposite clotless membranous stipulate 

 leaves, regular and symmetrical flowers with hypogynous pet- 

 als and stamens and distinct styles bearing capitate stigmas. 

 Sepals 2-5 distinct, persistent. Petals as many as the sepals 

 and alternate with them. Stamens as many or twice as 

 many as the petals. Ovary 2-15 -celled. Capsule 2-5-valved, 

 crowned with the persistent styles or stigmas: placentae in the 

 axis. Seeds, anatroppus cylindrical with crustaceous coat and 

 little or no albumen. 



1. Elatine. Parts of the flowers each 2-4, sepals obtuse. 



2. Bergia. Parts of the flowers each 5, sepals acute. 



1 ELATINE L. Gen. n. 502. 



Small prostrate glabrous annuals, growing in water or wet 

 places with entire leaves and solitary flowers. Sepals 2-4, mem- 

 branaceous, obtuse, nerveless. Petals as many as sepals. Stam- 

 ens as many or twice as many as petals. Styles 2, 3 or 4. Ovary 

 globose, with the placentae in the axis, many-ovuled. Capsule 

 membranaceous 2-4-cellcd, the partitions remaining attached to 

 the axis or evanescent. 



E. Americana Arnott Edinb. Journ. Pci. i, 4.30. Low and depressed, 



l-<) inches in diameter, rooting at the nodes: leaves obovate, very obtuse: 

 flowers sessile, purplish: seeds cylindrical, slightly curved, about one- 

 third of a line long, very minutely pitted in V) or 10 longitudinal lines. 

 Lower Columbia' river bottoms; also in the Eastern States. 



E. Californica Gray Proc. Am. Acad, xiii, 361. Floating : leaves obo- 

 vate, attenute at base, the lower with a petiole not longer than the blade: 

 flowers shortly pedicellate, with 3 or 4 sepals and petals and twice as 

 many stamens : seeds circinate-incurved nearly one third of a line long, 

 minutely pitted in 10 or 12 lines. In Sierra valley. California ; Spokane 

 Falls. Washington. 



2 BERGIA L. Riant, n. 1309. 



Branching and often pubescenl nearly erect annuals with en- 

 tire or senate leaves and fascicled or solitary flowers. Sepals 5, 

 with a strong midnerve or herbaceous in the middle, acute. 

 Ovary ovoid. Capsule subcrustaceous, 5-valved, more or less 

 of the partitions in dehiscence remaining with the axis. 



