386 FLORA. 



leaves ovate-lanceolate or oblong, 1-2 cm. wide, obtuse; stem-icaves on petioles 

 6-12 mm. long; flowers fewer. In damp woods, N. S. to the N. \V. Terr., Conn., 

 N. Car., Ohio and Mo. March-May. 



3. Claytonia Chamissoi Ledeb. Chamisso's Claytonia. (I. F. f. 143 1.) 

 Annual, glabrous, stoloniferous; stems weak, ascending or procumbent, 0.7-2.5 dm. 

 long. Leaves spatulate or oblanceolate, obtuse, 6-10 mm. wide; flowers few, 

 pink, racemose, 6-8 mm. broad; pedicels slender, recurved in fruit; capsule very 

 small. In wet places, Minn, to Br. Col., Alaska, south in the Rocky Mts. to 

 N. Mex. and to Cal. May-June. 



4. Claytonia perfoliata Donn. Spanish Lettuce. (I. F. f. 1432.) Annual; 

 stems several, simple, 0.7-3 dm. high, bearing a pair of connate-perfoliate leaves 

 near the summit. Basal leaves rhomboid-ovate, long-petioled ; petioles shorter 

 than the stems; raceme usually peduncled, several- flowered ; bracts broad, 

 deciduous ; flowers white or pink, 6-10 mm. broad ; petals and stamens 5 ; capsule 

 globose, 2-4 mm. in diameter, 2-5 -seeded. Established near Painesville, Ohio. 

 Native from Br. Col. to Mex. April-May. 



3. MONTIA L. 



Small annual glabrous herbs, with opposite fleshy leaves and minute nodding 

 white flowers. Sepals 2 (rarely 3), broadly ovate, persistent. Petals 5, hypogy- 

 nous, more or less united. Stamens 3 (very rarely 5), inserted on the corolla. 

 Ovary 3-ovuled ; style short, 3-parted. Capsule 3-valved, 3. seeded. Seeds nearly 

 orbicular, compressed, minutely tuberculate ; embryo peripheral. [In honor of 

 Guiseppe Monti, Italian botanist and author of the eighteenth century.] About 

 4 species, widely distributed in the colder parts of both hemispheres. In addition 

 to the following, another occurs in Oregon. 



1. Montia fontana L. Water or Blinking Chickweed. (I. F. f. 1433.) 

 Tufted, weak, diffuse or ascending, 2-15 cm. long, branching. Leaves opposite, spat- 

 ulate or obovate, mainly obtuse, 6-12 mm. long, 2 mm. broad or less; flowers nod- 

 ding, solitary and terminal or in a small loose leafy-bracted raceme; sepals obtuse, 

 slightly shorter than the ovate-oblong petals ; capsule globose, nearly 2 mm. in 

 diameter. In springs and wet places, Quebec and Me. to Lab., Newf. and across 

 arctic America, south in the mountains to Calif. Also in the Andes of S. Am., in 

 Australasia and in northern Europe and Asia. Summer. 



4. PORTULACA L. (See Appendix.) 



Diffuse or ascending, glabrous or pubescent fleshy herbs, with terminal flowers. 

 Sepals 2, united at the base and partly adnate to the ovary. Petals 4-6 (mainly 5), 

 inserted on the calyx, fugacious. Stamens 7-00 , also on the calyx. Ovary many- 

 ovuled ; style deeply 3-9-cleft or parted. Capsule membranous, dehiscent by a 

 lid, many-seeded. [Latin, in allusion to the purging qualities of some species.] 

 A genus of about 20 species, all but 2 or 3 natives of America. In addition to the 

 following, some 7 others occur in the southern U. S. 



Glabrous throughout; flowers small, yellow. 



Leaves mainly rounded at the apex ; seeds minutely rugose. 1. P. oleracea. 



Leaves mainly retuse ; seeds prominently tuberculate. 2. P. retusa. 

 Pilose pubescent, especially in the axils. 



Flowers red or pink, 8-12 mm. broad. 3. P. pilosa. 



Flowers variously colored, 2-5 cm. broad. 4. P. grandiflora. 



1. Portulaca oleracea L. Purslane. Pussley. (I. F. f. 1434.) Annual, 

 prostrate, branching from a deep central root; branches 1-2.5 dm. l° n g- Leaves 

 alternate and clustered at the ends of the branches, obovate or cuneate, 6-20 mm. 

 long, rounded at tin- apex, very fleshy ; flower-buds Hat; flowers solitary, sessile, 

 4-6 mm. broad, yellow, opening in bright sunshine; sepals broad, keeled, acutish; 

 style 4 6- parted; capsule 6-10 mm. long; seeds finely rugose. In fields and waste 

 places, common throughout our area, and in warm ami tropical America. Native 

 in the southwest, but naturalized northward. Summer. 



