perfect, three-bracted, in nearly obovate spikes, calyx tubular, five-cleft, utricle indehiscent. Common in sandy soil, where it is sometimes a very troublesome weed; from southern Minnesota and Wisconsin to Nebraska and southward.

Pokeweed Family (Phytolaccaceae).-Generally herbs, a few of the tropical trees or shrubs with alternate entire leaves without stipules, perfect, regular, polygamous or monoecious flowers; calyx petal-like of four or five sepals or four to five-parted; stamens five to thirty alternate, with the segments of the calyx or sepals of the same number or more numerous; ovary several-celled; ovules solitary.

Fig. 106. Prostrate pigweed (Amaranthus blitoides).

Pokeweed

The

(Phytolacca decandra, L.). A tall, stout, smooth perennial with an unpleasant odor, six to nine feet high; root large; leaves large petioled; flowers in terminal racemes; flowers of five rounded petal-like sepals; fruit a berry filled with a dark crimson juice. From New England states to Illinois and Texas. large root of the plant poisonous. Four O'clock Family (Nyctaginaceae).-Herbs or some tropical trees or shrubs; leaves generally opposite and entire, swollen joints; flowers regular in clusters, frequently subtended by an involucre; petals none, calyx inferior, corolla-like, tubular, four to five-lobed or four to five-toothed; stamens free, anthers two-celled; ovary onecelled and one-seeded, forming a kind of nut; embryo coiled around the mealy endosperm; cotyledons large; in Abronia, by abortion, a single cotyledon.

Wild Four O'clock or Umbrella Plant (Oxybaphus nyctagineus (Michx.) Sweet.).—A nearly smooth perennial with thick roots, repeatedly forked; leaves petioled,

except the upper, broadly ovate to lanceolate or cordate, cuneate at the base; flowers in loose inflorescence; slender peduncles, smooth or slightly pubescent; fruit oblongobovate, rather acutely angled. Common in Illinois, to Minnesota, to Texas.

The western O. hirsutus is glandular hirsute; leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceolate. Western Iowa to Saskatchewan, Colorado to Texas. The O. linearis is tall and smooth; peduncles hir

sute, with linear leaves. Occurs from Iowa to Utah and Mexico.

Hogweed (Boerhaavia erecta, L.). An annual herb with ascending stem, branched from base; swollen joints; leaves ovate or roundish, acute or mucronate, often more or less obcordate, whit

ened and minutely Fig. 107. Wild four o'clock or um

brella plant (Oxybaphus nyctagineus). dotted underneath; flowers perfect without involucre; clusters three to fiveflowered in ample panicles; calyx tube cylindrical, fiveribbed, limb colored, funnel shaped, five-lobed. Common in southern states from South Carolina to Texas.

Pink Family (Caryophyllaceae).-Herbs with opposite, entire leaves, frequently swollen at the nodes; flowers perfect or rarely dioecious; sepals four or five, persistent, separate or united with the calyx tube; petals of equal number, styles two to five, or rarely united into one; ovary usually one-celled, occasionally three to five-celled, ovules attached to a central column; seeds several or many; small coiled or curved embryo with a mealy albu

men. A large order, of about 70 genera and 1,500 species, widely distributed, most abundant in the northern hemisphere. Many of the plants of this order are cultivated for ornamental purposes. Among these are the hardy pink (Dianthus barbatus), and the carnation (D. Caryophyllus). Many plants of this family are weedy, such as the larger mouse chickweed (Cerastium viscosum), a common eastern perennial with a clammy, hairy stem, and white petals. In the South the nodding mouse-ear chickweed (C. nutans) is common in fields. This is an annual with clammy, hairy stems diffusely branched; flowers produced in loose, open clusters; pods nodding on the stalk from which arises the technical name.

Chickweed (Stellaria media, (L.) Cyrill.).—An annual or winter annual, growing from two to six inches high, with spreading stems, the whole plant rather procumbent; leaves ovate or oblong, the lower, with hairy petioles; flowers solitary and terminal, but appearing lateral as the stem is prolonged from the upper axil; sepals four to five, petals shorter than sepals, four to five, two-parted, white; stamens three to ten; styles three to five, opposite the sepals. The chickweed is especially troublesome on lawns and, because of the great vitality of the plants and seeds, is difficult to eradicate. In Iowa, the blooming period lasts from March to December, seed being matured through all of this time. The stems form a net

Fig. 108. Chickweed (Stellaria media, L.).

work on the surface of the ground striking root at every joint, thus crowding out more desirable plants and the prostrate habit of the plant makes it difficult to cut it off by means of a lawn mower. The light seeds are readily scattered. Evening Catchfly (Lychnis alba, Mill.).-A rather coarse hairy biennial, more or less viscid, one to two feet high; leaves oval, oblong, usually pointed, tapering at the base; flowers in loose panicles, rather large, white or pale pink, opening in the evening, usually dioecious; sepals, five, linear-lanceolate, calyx swelling as the capsule ripens; petals two

cleft, seed black, rough and kidney shaped. Found in clover fields, common in Europe.

Ragged Robin, Cuckoo Flower (Lychnis Flos-cuculi, L.). A short-lived perennial from one to two feet high, slightly downy below and viscid above; leaves lanceolate; flowers in loose panicles, red, pink, blue or white, scentless; calyx short, smooth; petals cut into four linear lobes, the two middle ones the longest; capsule nearly globular. In New England to Pennsylvania occurring also in clover fields. The white or bladder campion, (L. alba) with globular or ovoid calyx, two-cleft, occurs in the East and is occasionally found in meadows.

Fig. 109. Evening catchfly (Silene noctiflora).

The Sleepy Catchfly (Silene antirrhina, L.) with slender stems, joints glutinous, leaves lanceolate or linear, pink flowers, is a common weed in sandy fields in the Mississippi Valley, Colorado to Mexico.

Night-flowering Catchfly (Silene noctiflora, L.).—A tall glandular pubescent plant with few large, white, fragrant flowers, opening at night. A weed in cultivated grounds.

Bladder Campion (Silene latifolia, (Mill.) B. and B.).— A glaucous plant with opposite, ovate-lanceolate leaves; a globose, inflated calyx, petals two-cleft. Flowers white. Common in clover fields, Iowa and eastward.

Corn Cockle (Agrostemma Githago, L.). Tall, silky annual, or perennial; with linear leaves and purplish red flowers. A weed in grain fields and by roadsides.

Cowherb (Saponaria Vaccaria, L.).— An annual, glabrous plant, with pale red flowers in clusters, and ovate-lanceolate leaves. A weed in grain fields.

Soapwort or Bouncing Bet (Saponaria officinalis, L.).—A coarse, smooth perennial; leaves smooth, ovate or elliptical, two to three inches long, three to five-ribbed, petioled; flowers large in dense, corymbose clusters; calyx tubular, petals pale pink, or nearly white, fragrant. A common escape eastward, Fig. IIO. Corn cockle (Agrostemma Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, less common Githago). (Ada Hay- in the Rocky Mountains.

den, modified from Purslane Family (Portulacaceae).—

Clark and Fletcher.)

Succulent-leaved herbs, with regular unsymmetrical flowers, two sepals and five petals; stamens numerous or few; ovary one-celled, in fruit becoming a pod with many or few seeds. A small order of about 150 species, mostly native to North America. A few of the species, like the moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora), are cultivated for ornament, and the common purslane is cultivated as a vegetable.