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 ).

SPERGULA

SPURREY

Annual, ascending to erect, taprooted
Leaves appearing whorled (axillary clusters of 8–15, ± unequal); stipules 1–2 mm, ovate to triangular, scarious, entire, white; blade ± linear; vein 1
Inflorescence: cyme, terminal, several–many-flowered; pedicels 40+ mm
Flower: sepals 5, free, 2.5–6 mm, elliptic to ± ovate, glandular-hairy; petals 5, 2.5–4 mm, entire; stamens 5 or 10; styles 5, 0.3–0.7 mm
Fruit: capsule, ovoid; valves 5, spreading to ± recurved
Seeds several, blackish
Species in genus: 5 species: temp Eurasia
Etymology: (Latin: to scatter, from sowing seeds for early forage in Eur)

Introduced

S. arvensis L. subsp. arvensis

STICKWORT, STARWORT

Plant glabrous or generally glandular-hairy
Stem 10–40 cm or >; base ± branched
Leaf 1–5 cm, ± linear; tip blunt to abruptly pointed; margin often rolled under, giving cylindric appearance
Inflorescence: bracts like stipules, often purplish; pedicels erect to ascending, in fruit spreading to reflexed
Flower: sepals ± acute to rounded, margin widely scarious, ribs often 3, weak; petals ovate, persistent in fruit
Seed 1–1.5 mm diam, ± spheric, with whitish, club-shaped papillae or minutely roughened
Chromosomes: 2n=18,36
Ecology: Open slopes, pine woods, sand dunes, fields, disturbed areas
Elevation: < 200 m.
Bioregional distribution: North Coast, Outer North Coast Ranges, San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, Outer South Coast Ranges, South Coast
Distribution outside California: native to Europe