444 



Caryophyllaceae 



Scleranthus 



50 



Map 913 



Agrostemma Githago L. 



~30 



Map 914 



Silene stellata (L.) Ait. f. 



35 



Map 915 



Silene stellata var scabrella Nieuwl. 



2483. SCLERANTHUS L. 



1. Scleranthus annuus L. Knawel. Map 912. This is a European 

 weed that has been found in four places in Indiana. In 1914, Nieuwland 

 found it as a weed at Webster Station west of Notre Dame, St. Joseph 

 County. I have a specimen from Lagrange, which was sent to me in 1920 

 by the county agricultural agent who said it was a weed in an alfalfa field. 

 I have another specimen from Lagrange County, which was sent to Purdue 

 University from near Shipshewana. I also have a specimen sent to me in 

 1932 by H. C. Benke who found it near La Porte in La Porte County. No 

 doubt this species has a wider distribution than our specimens indicate. 



Nat. of Eu. ; Que., Ont. to Minn., southw. to Fla. 



2488. AGROSTEMMA L. 



1. Agrostemma Githago L. Corn Cockle. Map 913. A weed mostly 

 in grain fields and fallow fields and along roadsides and railroads. It has 

 been reported from all parts of the state and occurs in every county. It was 

 formerly much more common than it now is because improved threshing- 

 machines separate it from the grain. When I was a boy 60 years ago it 

 was my annual task when the cockle was in bloom to take a pair of scissors 

 and go through the wheatfield and cut the cockle and rye. The whole plant, 

 and especially the seed, is more or less poisonous. Wheat screenings that 

 contained any great amount of cockle seed, when fed to poultry, have 

 sometimes proved fatal. 



Nat. of Eurasia ; nearly throughout N. A. 



2490. SILfiNE L. Catchfly 



Leaves or some of them, verticillate in 4's; petals fringed. 



Leaves (except the margins and rarely a few hairs on the midrib) and stems glabrous. 

 1. S. stellata. 



Leaves (at least the upper ones) and stems puberulent. .la. S. stellata var. scabrella. 

 Leaves all opposite; petals not fringed. 



