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* Sesuvium. FICOIDE^E. 251 
It is mainly a tropical and subtropical family, of the Old World. Our Pacific Coast has only 
two indigenous representatives, both insignificant, and as many naturalized :Ones, which appear as 
if wild on the sea-shore. 
* Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary : petals and stamens very numerous. 
L Mesembryanthemum. Capsule 5-valved or more. Very fleshy. 
* * Ovary free : petals none : stamens few or many. 
2. Sesuvium. Calyx-lobes 5, petaloid. Stamens 5 to 60. Capsule circumscissile. Succulent. 
S. Mollugo. Sepals 5. Stamens 3 or 5. Capsule 3-valved. Not succulent 
1. MESEMBRYANTHEMUM, Linn. Ice-Plant. Fig-Marygold. 
Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary; the lobes usually 5, unequal, foliaeeous. Petals 
very numerous, linear. Stamens innumerable, with slender filaments, inserted with 
the petals on the tube of the calyx. Styles 4 to 20, usually 5. Capsule 4-20- 
celled, dehiscing in a star-like manner at the depressed summit. Seeds minute, 
very numerous. — Fleshy herbs or shrubs, rarely annual; leaves mostly opposite, 
without stipules ; flowers mostly showy, terminal and in the forks of the branches. 
A genus of about 300 species, principally S. African, but a few found in the Mediterranean 
region, Western S. America, and Australia. The Californian species are probably introduced. 
1. M. aequilaterale, Haworth. Perennial, with stout prostrate or ascending 
stems and short ascending flowering branches : leaves very fleshy, opposite and 
clasping, linear, acutely triangular, 1 to 3 inches long, smooth : flowers solitary, 
red, pedicellate or nearly sessile, about 1^ inches in diameter : calyx-tube turbinate, 
half an inch long or more, angled or terete; the larger lobes often as long : stigmas 
6 to 10.—DC. Prod. iii. 429. 
On the sea-shore and in saline soils from San Diego to Punta de los Reyes. Also in Chili and 
abundant in Australia and Tasmania, and very similar to M. acinaciforme of S. Africa. Fruit 
edible and pleasant, and the flowers very fragrant. 
2. M. crystallinum, Linn. Annual or biennial, diffusely procumbent, covered 
with large white glistening papillae : leaves flat, fleshy, often alternate on the 
branches, clasping, ovate or spatulate, undulate f flowers axillary, nearly sessile,, 
white or rose-colored : calyx-tube campanulate, terete, 4 or 5 lines long; lobes ovate, 
retuse or acute : stigmas 5.— DC. Prodr. iii. 448. 
San Diego {Cleveland) ; Santa Cruz Island {Rothroclc) ; collected also by Fremont. Apparently 
* identical with S. African specimens. 
2. SESUVIUM, Linn. Sea Purslane. 
Calyx-tube turbinate, free from the ovary; the lobes 5, oblong-lanceolate, apic- 
ulate on the back near the top, membranously margined, often colored within. 
Petals none. Stamens 5, alternate with the lobes, or many, inserted at the top of 
the calyx-tube. Styles 3 to 5. Capsule ovate-oblong, membranaceous, 3 - 5-celled, 
circumscissile at the middle, many-seeded. — Succulent smooth branching mostly 
prostrate herbs, sometimes woody at base; leaves opposite, linear to spatulate, 
entire, without stipules or united by a stipule-like membrane; flowers axillary and 
terminal, solitary or clustered. 
About 4 species are known, frequenting the sea-coast and saline localities through the tropics 
and warmer regions of the globe. 
1. S. Portulacastrum, Linn. Perennial : stems prostrate or ascending, herba¬ 
ceous, often a foot long or more: leaves linear- to oblong-oblanceolate, J to 1J 
- inches long, acute or obtuse : flowers sessile or pedicellate : calyx 3 to 5 lines long ; 
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Missouri 
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