234 



ELATINACE^. 



Dry slopes and ridges of the Coast Ranges from Lake Co. to Mt. 

 Tamalpais and southward; not common. Apr.-May. Branches 

 commonly clustered and very rush-like, owing to the sparseness, or to 

 the early deciduous character of the foliage. 



43. ELATINACE/E. Water-wort Family. 



Small annuals with opposite leaves and membranous stipules 

 between them. Flowers 2 to 5-merous, small, perfect, symmetrical, 

 solitary in the axils. Sepals, petals and stamens all distinct and 

 hypogynous. Ovary with as many cells as there are' sepals; styles 

 distinct. Capsule 2 to 5-celled, septicidal or the partitions more or 

 less persisting with the axis; placenta? central. 



Flowers 2 to 4-merous; sepals obtuse, without midrib 1. Elatine. 



Flowers 5-merous; sepals pointed or acute, with thickened midrib and 

 scarious margins 2. Bergia. 



1. ELATINE L. Water-wort. 

 Glabrous dwarfs, somewhat succulent, growing in water or in wet 

 places, rooting at the nodes. Leaves entire. Flowers 2 to 4-merous. 

 Sepals submembranous, obtuse. Petals white or whitish. Capsule 

 globose, thin-membranous, 2 to 4-celled, several- or many-seeded. 

 Seeds striately sculptured. 



Flowers sessile, mostly 2-merous 1. E. braehysperma. 



Flowers short-pediceled, mostly 4-merous ........ 2. E. Californica. 



1. E. braehysperma Gray. Mud Purslane. Mostly terres- 

 trial, the plants forming little mats (2 or 3 in. across) in wet places 

 or late vernal beds of winter pools; leaves obovate or oblong, nar- 

 rowed at base, 1 to 2 lines long; flowers sessile, mostly 2-merous; 

 capsule bursting irregularly; seed with 6 to 7 longitudinal lines and 

 10 to 12 cross-bars. 



Walnut Creek and south west ward to the coast. May. 



2. E. Californica Gray. Leaves obovate or oblanceolate, the 

 lower ones petioled; flowers on short pedicels; sepals and petals 3 or 

 4, the stamens twice as many; seeds curved, with 10 or 12 longitudi- 

 nal lines and several cross-lines. 



Suisun,acc. to Mrs. K. Brandegee; northern Sierra Nevada. 



2. BERGIA L. 



Branching annual, very leafy, with pubescent herbage. Flowers 

 pediceled and often fascicled, 5-merous. Sepals pointed or acute, 

 with strong midrib and scarious margins. Capsule ovoid, of firm 

 texture, more or less of the partitions remaining with the axis. 

 (Named for Dr. P. J. Bergius, Swedish naturalist of the 18th 

 century.) 



1. B. Texana (Hook.) Seubert. Diffusely branched, 6 to 12 in. 

 high; stems glandular-pubescent; leaves obovate or oblanceolate, 

 tapering at base, serrulate at apex, £ to 1} in. long; sepals 2 lines 

 long, equaling or exceeding the whitish petals; stamens 5 or 10. 



Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. 



