Part 35 (1/2)

[*][*] _Parts of the flower in fives, the stamens not rarely 10._

3. S. dec.u.mbens, Torr. & Gray. Annual, ascending; the peduncles and calyx with the margins of the upper leaves _at first glandular-p.u.b.escent_; leaves short, often bristly-tipped, not fascicled in the axils; peduncles slender; _petals equalling or shorter than the calyx_; pod oblong-ovate, nearly twice longer than the acutish sepals.

(S. subulata, _Man._, not _Wimm._)--E. Ma.s.s., to Ill., Mo., and southward.--Var. SMiTHII, a slender form, _apetalous_, at least in the later flowers.--Near Philadelphia, in waste ground, and in sandy fields at Somers' Point, N. J., _C. E. Smith._ Seeds minutely roughened.

4. S. nodsa, Fenzl. Perennial, tufted, glabrous, or glandular above; stems ascending (3--5' high); lower leaves thread-form, the upper short and awl-shaped, with minute ones _fascicled in their axils so that the branchlets appear knotty, petals much longer than the calyx._--Wet sandy soil, along the coast of Maine and N. H., also Lake Superior, and northward. (Eu.)

11. BuDA, Adans. SAND-SPURREY.

Sepals 5. Petals 5, entire. Stamens 2--10. Styles and valves of the many-seeded pod 3, very rarely 5, when the valves alternate with the sepals! Embryo not coiled into a complete ring.--Low herbs, mostly on or near the seacoast, with filiform or linear somewhat fleshy opposite leaves, and smaller ones often cl.u.s.tered in the axils; stipules scaly-membranaceous; flowering all summer. (Named probably for the city so called.)--Genus also known as TISSA, Adans., SPERGULARIA, Presl., and LEPIGONUM, Wahlb. The species are very variously understood by European botanists, and are much confused, as well as the synonymy. Our forms are annual, or at the most biennial.

1. B. rubra, Dumort. Nearly glabrous, the summit of the prostrate or ascending slender stems, peduncles, and sepals usually glandular-p.u.b.escent; leaves linear, flat, scarcely fleshy; stipules lanceolate, entire or cleft; pedicels longer than the bracts; _pods_ and pink-red corolla small (1”), _hardly equalling or exceeding the calyx; seeds rough with projecting points, semi-obovate_ or _gibbous-wedge-shaped, wingless_. (Spergularia rubra, _Presl._)--Dry sandy soil, New Eng. to Va., along and near the coast, but rarely maritime. (Eu.)

2. B. marna, Dumort. More decidedly fleshy than the preceding, erect or ascending, usually p.u.b.escent, with ovate stipules, terete leaves, and pedicels 2--4” long; sepals usually becoming 2--2” long, little shorter than the pod; petals pale; _seeds obovate-rounded and roughened with points_, wingless or narrow-winged. (Spergularia salina, _Presl._ Tissa marina, _Britt._)--Brackish sands, etc., coast of N. Eng. to Va., and southward. A form with smooth seeds is var. LEIOSPeRMA, N. E. Brown.

(S. media, _Presl._) (Eu.)

Var.(?) mnor, Watson. Small, ascending or dec.u.mbent; flowers smaller, on shorter pedicels (rarely 2” long), the sepals and pod 1--1” long; seeds wingless, usually papillose.--Coast of N. H. and Ma.s.s.

3. B. borealis, Watson. Diffusely branched, glabrous; pedicels usually 2--4” long; petals white; pod ovate, 2” long, about twice longer than the sepals; seeds usually wingless, smooth or nearly so. (Tissa salina, _Britt._)--On the coast, E. Maine to Labrador.

12. SPeRGULA, L. SPURREY.

Stamens 5 or 10. Styles 5. The 5 valves of the pod opposite the sepals.

Embryo spirally annular. Leaves in whorls. Otherwise as in Buda. (Name from _spargo_, to scatter, from the seeds.)

S. ARVeNSIS, L. (CORN SPURREY.) Annual; leaves numerous in the whorls, thread-shaped (1--2' long); stipules minute; flowers white, in a stalked panicled cyme; seeds rough.--Grain-fields. (Adv. from Eu.)

ORDER 16. PORTULACaCEae. (PURSLANE FAMILY.)

_Herbs, with succulent leaves, and regular but unsymmetrical flowers_; viz., _sepals fewer than the petals; the stamens opposite the petals when of the same number, but often indefinite, otherwise nearly as_ Chickweeds.--Sepals 2. Petals 5, or sometimes none. Stamens mostly 5--20. Styles 2--8, united below, or distinct, stigmatic along the inside. Pod 1-celled, with few or many campylotropous seeds rising on stalks from the base. Embryo curved around mealy alb.u.men.--Insipid and innocent herbs, with entire leaves. Corolla opening only in suns.h.i.+ne, mostly ephemeral, then shrivelling.

1. Portulaca. Stamens 7--20, on the partly adherent calyx. Pod opening by a lid.

2. Talinum. Stamens more numerous than the petals, hypogynous. Calyx deciduous. Pod many-seeded.

3. Claytonia. Stamens as many as the hypogynous petals, and attached to their base. Calyx persistent. Pod 3--6-seeded.

1. PORTULaCA, Tourn. PURSLANE.

Calyx 2-cleft; the tube cohering with the ovary below. Petals 5, rarely 6, inserted on the calyx with the 7--20 stamens, fugacious. Style mostly 3--8-parted. Pod 1-celled, globular, many-seeded, opening transversely, the upper part (with the upper part of the calyx) separating as a lid.--Fleshy annuals, with mostly scattered leaves. (An old Latin name, of unknown meaning.)

P. OLERaCEA, L. (COMMON PURSLANE.) Prostrate, very smooth; leaves obovate or wedge-form; flowers sessile (opening only in sunny mornings); sepals keeled; petals pale yellow; stamens 7--12; style deeply 5--6-parted; flower-bud flat and acute.--Cultivated and waste grounds; common. Seemingly indigenous west and southwestward. (Nat. from Eu.)

1. P. retusa, Engelm. Leaves often retuse; calyx-lobes obtuse in the bud; petals small or minute; style shorter, 3--4-cleft; seeds larger, sharply tuberculate; otherwise like the last.--Ark. to Tex. and westward; reported from Kan., Iowa, and Minn.

2. P. pilsa, L. Ascending or spreading, copiously hairy in the axils; leaves linear-subulate, nearly terete, 3--6” long; petals red or purple.--Kan. to Tex., etc.

2. TALNUM, Adans.