TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

CARYOPHYLLACEAE

PINK FAMILY

Ronald L. Hartman (except Silene)

Annual, biennial, perennial herb, rarely dioecious, taprooted or rhizome generally slender
Leaves simple, generally opposite; stipules generally 0; petiole generally 0; blade entire, sheath generally 0
Inflorescence: cyme, generally open; flowers few–many or flower solitary and axillary; involucre generally 0
Flower generally bisexual, radial; hypanthium sometimes present; sepals generally 5, ± free or fused into a tube, tube generally herbaceous between lobes or teeth; awns generally 0; petals generally 5 or 0, generally tapered to base (or with claw long, blade expanded), entire to 2–several-lobed, blade generally without scale-like appendages (inner surface), generally without ear-like lobes at base; stamens generally 10, generally fertile, generally free, generally from ovary base; nectaries generally 0; ovary superior, generally 1-chambered, placentas basal or free-central, styles 2–5 or 1 and 2–3-branched
Fruit: capsule or utricle (rarely modified, dehiscent), generally sessile
Seeds: appendage generally 0
Genera in family: 85 genera, 2400 species: widespread, especially arctic, alpine, temp, n hemisphere; some cultivated (Agrostemma, Arenaria, Cerastium, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Lychnis, Saponaria, Silene, Vaccaria ).

HERNIARIA

Annual, ± prostrate, taprooted
Leaves opposite below, alternate above; stipules 0.4–1 mm, ovate to deltate, scarious, ciliate, white; blade oblanceolate to obovate; vein 0–1
Inflorescence: cyme, axillary; flowers 3–10, dense, ± sessile
Flower: hypanthium cup-like, not abruptly expanded above; sepals 5, 0.6–1.2 mm, free, lanceolate to oblong, hairy, margin entire, herbaceous; petals 0; fertile stamens 2–5, sterile stamens 4–5, ± 0.5 mm, ± thread-like, arising from hypanthium rim; styles 2 or 2-branched in upper 2/3, 0.1–0.4 mm
Fruit: utricle, obovoid
Seed 1, dark reddish brown
Species in genus: 20 species: Eur, s Asia, Africa
Etymology: (Latin: rupture, 1 sp. being a supposed cure)
Reference: [Chaudhri 1968 Meded Bot Mus Herb Rijks Univ Utrecht 285:297–398]

Introduced

H. hirsuta L.

Stem generally 4–20 cm
Leaf: stipules 0.4–1 mm; blade 1–13 mm
Inflorescence: flowers 3–8
Flower: sepals ± equal to unequal; stamens 2–5; styles 2 or 2-branched
Fruit minutely papillate
Seed ± compressed, smooth; margin with prominent rim
Ecology: Disturbed, sandy or clay soils
Elevation: < 1750 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, c&s Sierra Nevada Foothills, c High Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, South Coast
Distribution outside California: native to s Europe, n Africa, sw Asia

Introduced

subsp. cinerea (DC.) Cout.

Stem generally 5–20 cm
Inflorescence: flowers 3–8
Flower ± 1.2–1.8 mm; hairs of 2 sizes, long hairs 1/2–2/3 X sepals, tips of some or all hooked or tightly coiled, short hairs 1/4–1/3 X sepals, generally on hypanthium, tips recurved; sepals in fruit ± unequal; stamens 2–3; styles 2, 0.2–0.4 mm
Seed 0.5–0.6 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=36
Ecology: Disturbed areas, alkaline hills, clay flats
Elevation: < 800 m.
Bioregional distribution: s Sierra Nevada Foothills, c High Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, South Coast
Distribution outside California: native to s Europe, n Africa, sw Asia
Synonyms: H. c. DC.; Paronychia pusilla Greene
Possibly best treated as separate sp.