( 1789 ) 



Cerastium amplexicaule. Glaucous 

 Chick weed. 



Class and Order. 

 Decandria Monogynia. 



Generic Character. 



Cal. 5-phyllus. Petala bifida. Caps. 1-Iocularis, apice 

 dehiscens. 



Specific Character. 



Cerastium amplexicaule ; glabrum, caule dichotomo, foliis 

 cordato-ovatis amplexicaulibus, petalis semibifidis, pedun- 

 culis fructiferis reflexis, capsular ore decemdentato. 



Descr. Stems diffuse, dichotomous, rounded., striate, 

 smooth, brittle. Leaves cordate -ovate, acute, stem -embracing", 

 glaucous, smooth. Peduncles solitary from the divisions of 

 the stem, reflected after the flower falls. Calj/cine leaflets 

 erect, acute, white-margined. Petals semibitid, streaked, 

 white. Stamens always ten, shorter than petals : anthers 

 yellow. Germen oval. Styles five. Capsule oblong-oval, 

 one-celled, ten-valved ; valves reflected at the point. Seeds 

 kidney -shaped, tubercular, chesnut-coloured, attached to a 

 central receptacle. 



The Cerastium amplexicaule is very nearly related to 

 Cerastium aquaticum, from which however it differs in 

 several material respects, more especially in being perfectly 

 smooth, in having its petals divided only half-way, and the 

 mouth of the capsule splitting into ten teeth instead of five. 

 It is moreover altogether of much larger growth. Alsine 

 Cerastium foliis connatis of Gmelin's Flora Sibirica, vol. 4. 

 tab. 62. f. 1. represents a plant with stem-embracing, but 



not 



