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no petals. Of the purslane family the portulacas of the gardens, and the common purslane or "pusley," and the spring-beauty (_Claytonia_) (Fig. 98, _A_) are the commonest examples. The pink family is represented by many common and often showy plants. The carnation, Japanese pinks, and sweet-william, all belonging to the genus _Dianthus_, of which there are also two or three native species, are among the showiest of the family. The genera _Lychnis_ and _Silene_ (Fig. 98, _L_) also contain very showy species. Of the less conspicuous genera, the chick-weeds (_Cerastium_ and _Stellaria_) are the most familiar. The third group of the _Choripetalae_ (the _Aphanocyclae_) is a very large one and includes many common plants distributed among five orders. The lower ones have all the parts of the flower entirely separate, and often indefinite in number; the higher have the gynoecium composed of two or more carpels united to form a compound pistil. The first order (_Polycarpae_) includes ten families, of which the buttercup family (_Ranunculaceae_) is the most familiar. The plants of this family show much variation in the details of the flowers, which are usually showy, but the general plan is much the same. In some of them, like the anemones (Fig. 99, _A_), clematis, and others, the corolla is absent, but the sepals are large and brightly colored so as to appear like petals. In the columbine (_Aquilegia_) (Fig. 99, _F_) the petals are tubular, forming nectaries, and in the larkspur (Fig. 99, _T_) one of the sepals is similarly changed. Representing the custard-apple family (_Anonaceae_) is the curious papaw (_Asimina_), common in many parts of the United States (Fig. 100, _A_). The family is mainly a tropical one, but this species extends as far north as southern Michigan. [Illustration: FIG. 99.--Types of _Aphanocyclae_ (_Polycarpae_), family _Ranunculaceae_. _A_, Rue anemone (_Anemonilla_), x 1/2. _B_, a fruit, x 2. _C_, section of the same. _D_, section of a buttercup flower (_Ranunculus_), x 11/2. _E_, diagram of buttercup flower. _F_, wild columbine (_Aquilegia_), x 1/2. _G_, one of the spur-shaped petals, x 1. _H_, the five pistils, x 1. _I_, longitudinal section of the fruit, x 1. _J_, flower of larkspur (_Delphinium_), x 1. _K_, the four petals and stamens, after the removal of the five colored and petal-like sepals, x 1.] The magnolia family (_Magnoliaceae_) has several common members, the most widely distribut
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