A miscellaneous group, _chiefly of fleshy or succulent plants, with mostly opposite leaves and no stipules_. Differing from Caryophyllaceæ and Portulacaceæ by having the ovary and capsule 2--several-celled, and the stamens and petals sometimes numerous, as in Cactaceæ (but the latter wanting in most of the genera), seeds, as in all these orders, with the slender embryo curved about mealy albumen. Our genera are apetalous and with the calyx free from the ovary. 1. Sesuvium. Calyx-lobes 5, petaloid. Stamens 5--60. Capsule circumscissile. Succulent. 2. Mollugo. Sepals 5. Stamens 3 or 5. Capsule 3-valved. Not succulent. 1. SESÙVIUM, L. SEA PURSLANE. Calyx 5-parted, purplish inside, persistent, free. Petals none. Stamens 5--60, inserted on the calyx. Styles 3--5, separate. Pod 3--5-celled, many-seeded, circumscissile, the upper part falling off as a lid.--Usually prostrate maritime herbs, with succulent stems, opposite leaves, and axillary or terminal flowers. (An unexplained name.) 1. S. pentándrum, Ell. Annual, procumbent or sometimes erect; leaves oblong- to obovate-spatulate, obtuse; flowers sessile, stamens 5. (S. Portulacastrum, _Gray_, Manual, not _L._)--Sea coast, N. J. to Fla. 2. MOLLÙGO, L. INDIAN-CHICKWEED. Sepals 5, white inside. Stamens hypogynous, 5 and alternate with the sepals, or 3 and alternate with the 3 cells of the ovary. Stigmas 3. Capsule 3-celled, 3-valved, loculicidal, the partitions breaking away from the many-seeded axis.--Low homely annuals, much branched, the stipules obsolete. (An old Latin name for some soft plant.) M. VERTICILLÀTA, L. (CARPET-WEED.) Prostrate, forming patches; leaves spatulate, clustered in whorls at the joints, where the 1-flowered pedicels form a sort of sessile umbel, stamens usually 3.--Sandy river-banks, and cultivated grounds. June--Sept. (An immigrant from farther south.) ORDER 48. UMBELLÍFERÆ. (PARSLEY FAMILY.)