92 



CARYOPHYLLACE^E. (PINK FAMILY.) 



soon becoming- lateral; sepals oblong, obtuse. — Gravelly shores, &c., Rhode 

 Island to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and northward. May, June. (Eu.) 

 § 4. AMMADENIA, Gmelin. (Honkenya, Ehrh.) Pod fleshy, splitting into as 

 many valves as there are styles (3, rarely 4 or 5) ; the ovary more or less 3 - (5-) 

 celled: seeds few, smooth, short-beaked at the naked hilum : disk under the ovary 

 more prominent than usual, glandular, 10-lobed ; flowers almost sessde in the axils 

 of fleshy leaves, sometimes dioecious or polygamous ; root perennial. 

 7. A. peploides, L. Stems (simple or forking from long rootstocks, 6'- 

 10' high) and ovate partly-clasping leaves (8"- 10" long) very fleshy. (Hon- 

 kenya peploides, Ehrh., ed. 2.) — Sands of the sea-shore, New Jersey to Maine 

 and northward. June. (Eu.) 



7. STELLAEIA, L. Chickweed. Starwort. 



Sepals 4 -5. Petals 4 - 5, deeply 2-cleft, sometimes none. Stamens 8, 10, 

 or fewer. Styles 3, rarely 4 or 5, opposite as many sepals. Pod ovoid, 1-celled, 

 opening by twice as many valves as there are styles, several -many-seeded. 

 Seeds naked. — Flowers (white) solitary or cymose, terminal, or appearing 

 lateral by the prolongation of the stem from the upper axils. (Name from 

 stella, a star, in allusion to the star-shaped flowers.) 



* Stems spreading, flaccid, marked longitudinally with one. or two pubescent lines : 



leaves ovate or oblong, ^' - 2^' long. 



1. S. media, Smith. (Common Chickweed) Annual or nearly so; 

 lower leaves on hairy petioles; petals shorter than the calyx, 2-parted; stamens 3- 

 10. — Everywhere in damp grounds. (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. S. pubera, Michx. (Great Chickweed.) Root perennial; leaves 

 all, sessile; petals longer than the calyx, deeply 2-cleft; stamens 10. — Shaded 

 rocks, Pennsylvania to Kentucky and southward. May. 



* * Stems erect or spreading : wholly glabrous perennials, with sessile and narrow or 



small leaves : stamens usually 10, perigynous. 

 •*- Scaly-bracted : petals 2-parted, equalling or surpassing the calyx. 



3. S. longifolia, Muhl. (Long-leaved Stitchwort.) Stem erect, 

 weak, often with rough angles (8' -18' high) ; leaves linear, acutish at both ends, 

 spreading ; cymes naked and at length lateral, peduncled, many-flowered, the slender 

 pedicels s]>reading ; petals 2-parted, longer than the calyx ; seeds smooth. — 

 Grassy places : common, especially northward. June, July. (Eu.) 



4. S. longipes, Goldie. (Long-stalked S.) Shining or somewhat 

 glaucous, very smooth ; leaves ascending, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, acute, 

 broadest at the base, rather rigid ; cyme terminal, few-flowered, the long pedicels 

 strictly erect ; petals longer than the calyx ; seeds smooth. — Maine to Wiscon- 

 sin : rare, common farther north. (Eu.) 



5. S. uligin6sa, Murr. (Swamp S.) Stems weak, decumbent or diffuse, 

 at length prolonged, leaving the naked and usually sessile cymes lateral ; leaves 

 lanceolate or oblong, veiny ; petals and ripe pods as long as the calyx ; seeds rough- 

 ened. (S. aquatica, Pollich.) — Swamps and rills, Pennsylvania (Darlington, 

 &c), New Hampshire (Blake), and northward in British America. (Eu.) 



