Purslane Family. 21 



calyx, dehiscent by 3 ".'-cleft valves. Sandy shores: May-July; frequent: 

 Winneshiek. Fayette. Scott. Muscatine. Henry. Johnson, and Chickasaw 

 counties. [Moehringla lateriflora (L.) Fenzl.) 



STELLAr\IA L. Tufted annual herbs, with solitary or cymose white 

 flowers. Sepals 4-5. Petals t-5, deeply 2-cIeft. Stamens 10. 8, or 'ess. I'od 

 ovoid. 1-celled. dehiscing- by about 6 valves. 



S. media Smith. Common Chickweed. Stem angled, erect or ascending, 

 much branched, glabrous except 1 or 2 pubescent lines: leaves ovate or oval, 

 acute, with ciliate petioles, the upper sessile: flowers solitary, axillary, or in 

 terminal leafy cymes: petals shorter than the calyx: stamens 2—10. Waste 

 places, fields and woods: June-August: infrequent; Muscatine county; 

 reported from Winneshiek. Fayette. Woodbury, and Lyon counties. (A. 

 lowjlfolia (Muhl.) Britton.) 



S. longifolia Muhl. Long-leaved Stltchwort. Stems erect, weak, glabrous. 

 or with rough angles: leaves linear, spreading, acutish at both ends: pedicels 

 slender, divaricate: sepals lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, equalling or shorter 

 than the petioles: capsule ovoid-oblong, about twice the length of thecalyx. 

 Grassy places, meadows and woods: May-July; frequent; Winneshiek. 

 Fayette. Muscatine. Johnson, Linn. Story, Emmet. Woodbury, and Lyon 

 counties. {A. longifolia (Muhl.) Britton.) 



CERASTIUM L. Annuals or perennials, mostly pubescent or hirsute, 

 with mostly flat leaves, aud white flowers in terminal cymes. Sepals and 

 petals in our species 5. Petals notched or 2 cleft. Stamens usually 10. 

 Styles 5, opposite the sepals. Pod membranous, dehiscing at the apex by 10 

 teeth, elongated, many-seeded. 



C. nutans Raf. Annual; stem 6-20 inches high, weak, reclining or ascend- 

 ing, clammy-pubescent, rarely glabra*e: leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, 

 lower spatulate; cymes loose, many-flowered: pods nodding, much exceeding 

 the calyx, curved upward. Grassy moist places: May-June: frequent: 

 Wicneshiek. Scott. Muscatine. Henry. Johnson, and Decatur counties. 



C. Vulgatum L. Uiennial or perennial: stems viscid-pubescent, tufted, 

 erect or ascending. G-18 inches high: leaves oblong, the lower spatulate-ob- 

 long. obtuse: bracts scarious-margined; petals about equalling the calyx: pod 

 elongated, curved upward. Grassy banks: May-September: frequent: 

 Allamakee, Fayette, Scott. Muscatine, Henry. Johnson. Linn, and Decatur 

 counties. 



C. arvense L. Perennial: stems tufted: lower leaves linear-oblong, the 

 upper distant, linear or linear-lanceolate: flowers larger, petalsiobcordate. 

 twice the length of the calyx: pod equal or but little exceeding the calyx. 

 Winneshiek county. The variety oblong if ollum (Torr.) Holl. A Britt. larger, 

 leaves oblong or lanceolate, pod twice the length of the calyx, is reported 

 from Fayette count v. Various ether localities are claimed for both species 

 and variety. 



PORTULACACEAE Rcichenb. Purslane Family. 



Herbs, with fleshy entire exstipulate leaves, and regular mostly ephem- 

 eral flowers which open only in the sunshine. Sepals 2. Petals .">. 

 Stamens 5, opposite to the petals, or often many. Styles 2-8, united 

 below, sti^matic alon^ the inner surface. Ovary fro..'. 1 -culled. Pod 1- 

 celled, few to many-seeded. 



Talinoi. Stamens usually many ; pod 3-valved, with many seeds on a globular stalked 



pltlO 



