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POPULAR FLORA. 
herbs: some are insignificant weeds ; others have handsome flowers, and are cultivated for 
ornament. They form two main sub-families, one containing the Pinks, the other the Chick- 
weeds. For lack of room, only the principal genera can be given here, without the species, 
which are numerous. 
I. PINK Subfamily. Sepals united into a tube or cup. Petals with long claws, which are en- 
closed in the tube of the calyx. The petals and the 10 stamens are generally raised more or less on a 
stalk within the calyx. Pod inany-seeded, opening at the top. 
Calyx furnished with two or more scaly bractlets at the base. 
Calyx naked, i. e. without any bractlets at the base. 
Styles 2. Calyx cylindrical and even, 
Styles 2. Calyx oblong and strongly 5-angled, 
Styles 3. Calyx 5-toothed, 
Styles 5. 
Calyx with short teeth, which are not leaf-like, 
Calyx with leafy lobes, which are longer than the petals, 
Flowers mostly rather large and showy. 
Styles 2, ( Dianthus ) * Pink. 
( Saponaria) 
( Vaccarici) 
(Silene) 
SOAPWORT. 
COWHERB. 
Catchfly. 
( Lychnis ) * Lychnis. 
(Agrostemma) Cockle. 
II. CHICKWEED Subfamily. Sepals separate or nearly so. Petals without claws, spreading, 
sometimes wanting. Small or low herbs ; many are weeds. Flowers small, mostly white, except in 
Sand-Spurrey. 
Pod 8-celled, many-seeded. Petals none. Prostrate annual weed, ( Molliigo ) Carpetvveed. 
Pod one-celled, with several or many seeds. Styles 3 to 5. 
Stipules or little scales between the leaves none. 
Petals 2-cleft or parted, or notched at the end. 
Styles and petals 5. Pod opening by 10 teeth. ( Cerastium ) Mouse-ear Chickweed. 
Styles 3 or 4. Pod splitting into valves, ( Slettaria ) Chickweed. 
Petals entire, not notched nor cleft. 
Styles 3, fewer than the petals, ( Arenaria ) Sandwort. 
Styles 5 or 4, as many as the petals, ( Sag'ina ) Pearlwort. 
Stipules in the form of scales between the bases of the leaves. 
Styles 3. Leaves not whorled. Petals purple, ( Spergularia ) Sand-SpUrrey. 
Styles 5. Leaves in whorls, narrow. Petals white, (Spei'gula) Spurrey. 
16. PURSLANE FAMILY. Order POBTULACACEJE. 
More or less fleshy herbs, with entire leaves, and flowers which open only in sunshine. 
Sepals fewer than the petals (i. e. sepals 2, petals 5), with a stamen before each one, or 
else with many stamens. Pod one-celled, with the seeds, like those of the Pink family, on 
stalks rising from the base of the cell. Harmless and tasteless herbs ; the Spring-Beauty 
has handsome flowers in the spring in woods. The common Purslane is a well-known gar- 
den weed and pot-herb, and the Great-flowered Purslane, with its cylindrical fleshy leaves 
and large red or scarlet flowers, is a common ornamental annual in cultivation. 
Calyx 2-cleft, the tube united with the lower part of the ovary. Petals opening only 
once. Stamens 7 to 20. Pod many-seeded, opening round the middle, the top 
falling off as a lid. Annuals. ( Portulaca ) Purslane. 
