Part 34 (1/2)

-- 2. ALSNE. _Pod splitting to the base into 3 entire valves; seeds many, usually rough, naked at the hilum; flowers solitary and terminal or cymose; root in our species perennial, except in n. 4._

[*] _Leaves small, rigid, awl-shaped or bristle-shaped._

1. A. Caroliniana, Walt. (PINE-BARREN S.) Densely tufted from a deep perpendicular root; _leaves closely imbricated_, but spreading, _awl-shaped, short, channelled_; branches naked and minutely glandular above, several-flowered; _sepals obtuse_, ovate, shorter than the pod.

(A. squarrosa, _Michx._)--In pure sand, S. New York, N. J., and southward along the coast. May--July.

2. A. Michauxii, Hook. f. Erect, or usually diffusely spreading from a small root, smooth; _leaves slender, between awl-shaped and bristle-form_, with many others _cl.u.s.tered_ in the axils; cyme diffuse, naked, many-flowered; _sepals pointed, 3-ribbed_, ovate, as long as the pod. (A. stricta, _Michx._)--Rocks and dry wooded banks, Vt. and Penn.

to Minn., Mo., and southwestward. July.

3. A. verna, L. Dwarf, alpine, densely matted, glabrous or (var. HIRTA) somewhat p.u.b.escent, 1--3' high; leaves narrowly linear or awl-shaped; flowers loosely cymose; sepals lanceolate, pointed, 3-nerved, shorter than the pod.--Smuggler's Notch, Vt. (_Pringle_); north and westward.

(Eu.)

[*][*] _Leaves soft and herbaceous, filiform-linear; petals retuse or notched._

4. A. patula, Michx. Diffusely branched from the slender root; stems filiform (6--10' long); branches of the cyme diverging; peduncles long; _sepals lanceolate, ac.u.minate, 3--5-nerved_. (A. Pitcheri, _Nutt._)--S. W. Va. to Ky., Ill., Kan., and southward.

5. A. Grnlandica, Spreng. (MOUNTAIN S.) Densely tufted from slender roots, smooth; flowering stems filiform, erect (2--4' high), few-flowered; _sepals oblong, obtuse, nerveless_.--Summit of the Shaw.a.n.gunk, Catskill, and Adirondack Mountains, N. Y., of the higher mountains of New Eng., and northward; alpine or subalpine. At Bath, Maine, on river-banks near the sea, and near Middletown, Ct.

June--Aug.--Leaves and peduncles 3--6” long; flowers large in proportion. (Addendum)--Arenaria Grnlandica. Found on Mt. Desert Island, Maine (_Rand_).

-- 3. MHRiNGIA. _Parts of the flower sometimes in fours; pod as in -- 1, but the young ovary 3-celled; seeds rather few, smooth, with a thickish appendage (strophiole) at the hilum; perennials, with flaccid broadish leaves._

6. A. lateriflra, L. Sparingly branched, erect, minutely p.u.b.escent; leaves oval or oblong, obtuse (--1' long); peduncles 2--(rarely 3--4) flowered, soon becoming lateral; sepals oblong, obtuse.--Gravelly sh.o.r.es, etc., New Eng. to Penn., Mo., Minn., and northward. May, June.

(Eu.)

-- 4. AMMADeNIA. _Styles, cells of the ovary, and valves of the fleshy pod 3, rarely 4 or 5; seeds few, smooth, short-beaked at the naked hilum; disk under the ovary more prominent than usual, glandular, 10-lobed; flowers almost sessile in the axils, sometimes dicious or polygamous; root perennial._

7. A. peplodes, L. Stems (simple or forking from long rootstocks, 6--10' high) and ovate partly-clasping leaves (8--10” long) very fleshy. (Honkenya peploides, _Ehrh._)--Sands of the sea-sh.o.r.e, N. J. to Maine and northward. June. (Eu.)

7. STELLaRIA, 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 p.u.b.escent lines; leaves ovate or oblong, --2' long._

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.)

1. S. p.u.b.era, Michx. (GREAT CHICKWEED.) Root perennial; _leaves all sessile; petals longer than the calyx_, deeply 2-cleft; stamens 10.--Shaded rocks, Penn. to Ind., 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 surpa.s.sing the calyx._

2. S. longiflia, Muhl. (LONG-LEAVED St.i.tCHWORT.) 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 spreading_; petals 2-parted, longer than the calyx; seeds smooth.--Gra.s.sy places; common, especially northward. June, July. (Eu.)

3. S. longipes, Goldie. (LONG-STALKED S.) s.h.i.+ning 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 Minn., rare; common farther north. (Eu.)

S. GRAMiNEA, L. Resembling the last; leaves linear-lanceolate, _broadest above the base; pedicels widely spreading; seeds_ strongly but minutely _rugose_.--Becoming rather frequent. (Int. from Eu.)

4. S. uliginsa, Murr. (SWAMP S.) Stems weak, dec.u.mbent 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 roughened_.--Swamps and rills, Md. to N. Eng., and northward; rare. (Eu.)