The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Part 35

[*][*] _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.

Sepals 2, distinct and free, deciduous. Petals 5, ephemeral. Stamens 10--30. Style 3-lobed at the apex. Pod 3-celled at the base when young, 3-valved, with many seeds on a globular stalked placenta. (Derivation obscure.)

1. T. teretiflium, Pursh. Perennial; leafy stems low, tuberous at base; leaves linear, cylindrical; peduncle long (3--6') and naked, bearing an open cyme of pink flowers ({2/3}' broad); stamens 15--20.--Serpentine rocks, Penn., to Ind., Minn., and southward. June--Aug. (Addendum) Style equalling the stamens.

(Addendum) 2. T. calycnum, Engelm. Leaves somewhat broader; flowers and capsules larger; stamens 30 or more; style twice longer than the stamens, declined.--Central Kan. to W. Tex.

3. CLAYTNIA, Gronov. SPRING-BEAUTY.

Sepals 2, ovate, free, persistent. Stamens 5, adhering to the short claws of the petals. Style 3-cleft at the apex. Pod 1-celled, 3-valved, 3--6-seeded.--Our two species are perennials, sending up simple stems in early spring from a small deep tuber, bearing a pair of opposite leaves, and a loose raceme of pretty flowers. Corolla rose-color with deeper veins, opening for more than one day! (Named in honor of _Dr. John Clayton_, one of our earliest botanists, who contributed to Gronovius the materials for the Flora Virginica.)

1. C. Virginica, L. Leaves linear-lanceolate, elongated (3--6'

long).--Moist open woods; common, especially westward and southward.

2. C. Caroliniana, Michx. Flowers rather smaller and fewer; leaves spatulate-oblong or oval-lanceolate (1--2' long).--Maine to Minn., and southward along the Alleghanies.

(Addendum) 3. C. Chamissnis, Esch. Weak, proc.u.mbent or ascending, rooting below and perennial by lateral and terminal filiform runners; leaves several pairs, oblong-spatulate, 1--2' long; inflorescence racemosely 1--9-flowered; petals pale rose-color; capsule small, 1--3-seeded.--In a cold ravine, Winona Co., Minn.; in the mountains from Colorado north and westward.

ORDER 17. ELATINaCEae. (WATER-WORT FAMILY.)

_Little marsh annuals, with membranaceous stipules between the opposite dotless leaves, minute axillary flowers like those of the_ Chickweeds, _but the pod 2--5-celled, and the seeds as in_ St. John's-wort. The princ.i.p.al genus is

1. ELATNE, L. WATER-WORT.

Sepals 2--4, persistent. Petals 2--4, hypogynous. Stamens as many, rarely twice as many, as the petals. Styles, or sessile capitate stigmas, 2--4. Pod membranaceous, globose, 2--4-celled, several--many-seeded, 2--4-valved; the part.i.tions left attached to the axis, or evanescent. Seeds cylindrical, straightish or curved, marked by both longitudinal and transverse lines.--Dwarf glabrous plants, usually rooting at the nodes, aquatic or terrestrial. (A Greek name for some obscure herb.)

1. E. Americana, Arn. Tufted, 1' high; leaves obovate, obtuse, 1--3"

long; flowers sessile, rarely opening in the aquatic form; sepals, petals, stamens, and stigmas 2, rarely 3; seeds 5 or 6 in each cell, rising from the base, marked by 9 or 10 longitudinal lines and 20--30 crossbars.--Margin of ponds, etc., N. H. to Ill., Va., and southwestward. Pod very thin and delicate; the seeds large in proportion, straightish.

2. E. triandra, Schkuhr. Leaves oblanceolate or nearly lanceolate; petals and stamens commonly 3; seeds more slender, covering the axis.--Ponds, Ill., Neb., and westward. (Eu.)

3. E. brachysperma, Gray. Leaves oblong or oval with narrowed base; flowers mostly dimerous; seeds short-oblong, with 6 or 7 longitudinal lines and 10--12 crossbars.--Ill. and southwestward.

ORDER 18. HYPERICaCEae. (ST. JOHN'S-WORT FAMILY.)

_Herbs or shrubs, with opposite entire dotted leaves and no stipules, regular hypogynous flowers, the petals mostly oblique and convolute in the bud, and many or few stamens commonly collected in 3 or more cl.u.s.ters or bundles. Pod 1-celled with 2--5 parietal placentae, and as many styles, or 3--7-celled by the union of the placentae in the centre; dehiscence mostly septicidal._--Sepals 4 or 5, imbricated in the bud, herbaceous, persistent. Petals 4 or 5, mostly deciduous. Styles persistent, at first sometimes united. Seeds numerous, small, anatropous, with no alb.u.men. Embryo cylindrical.--Plants with a resinous juice, dotted with pellucid or dark glands, usually smooth. Leaves mostly sessile. Flowers solitary or cymose.

[*] Petals oblique, convolute, yellow; hypogynous glands none.

1. Ascyrum. Sepals 4, in 2 very unequal pairs. Petals 4. Stamens many, distinct.

2. Hyperic.u.m. Sepals 5, alike. Petals 5. Stamens usually many and in 3 or 5 cl.u.s.ters.

[*][*] Petals equal, imbricate, purplish; glands alternating with the 3 stamen-cl.u.s.ters.

3. Elodes. Sepals and petals 5. Stamens usually 9. Ovary 3-celled.