Cerasticm. CARYOPHYLLACEiE. 187 



late, rather thick ; petals and capsule half the length of the sepals. Bong. 

 ves: Sitcha. I. c. p. 126. 



Sitcha.— Glabrous, a foot or more high. Cyme dichotomous. Petals 

 2-parted. Allied to S. crassifolia. Bongard. 



./— 19. -S. lanuginosa: minutely woolly-pubescent; stem decumbent, elon- 

 • gated, much branched ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, mucronulate, attenuate at 

 the base; peduncles solitary, axillary, 1-flowered; petals mostly wanting ; 

 sepals ovate-lanceolate, acute, as lonsj as the obtuse capsule. — Spergulastrum 

 lanuginosum, Michx.fl. I. p. 275. Micropelalon lanuginosum, Pers. Stel- 

 laria elongata, Nutt. ! gen. 1. p. 2S9 ; DC. prodr. 1 . p. 99. Arenaria diffusa, 

 Ell. sk. I. p. 519. 



Shady moist places, N. Carolina! to Florida (Apalachicola, Dr. Chap- 

 man!) and Louisiana west of the Mississippi, Dr. Hale. '—(T) Leaves some- 

 what fascicled in the axils, attenuate at the base, as if pctioled, punctate 

 under a lens. Petals (rarely 3, entire. Mr. Curtis, in litl.) (oval, scarcely 

 ^ the length of the calyx, Elliott) none according to Michaux ^ Nutlall. 



7. CERASTIUM. Linn.; Gcertn.fr. t. 130; DC. prodr. 1. p. 414. 



Sepals 5, somewhat united at the base. Petals 5, bifid. Stamens 10, or 

 rarely fewer. Styles 5. Capsule 1-celled, cylindrical or roundish, membra- 

 naceous, opening at the apex by 10 (rarely 5) teeth. Seeds numerous. — 

 Chickweed. • 



§ 1. Capsules cylindrical, icith circinale teeth. — Strephooon, Seringe 



1. C. stellarioides (Mogino) : stem erect, branched, about 3-Powered ; 

 leaves oblonsr, acuminate; pedicels 1-flowered, terminal; sepals lanceolate ; 

 petals semibifid, twice the length of the calyx. DC. prodr. 1. p. 415. 



Nootka Sound, Mogino in DC. 



§ 2. Capsules cylindrical or ovate ; teeth straight %cith the margin revo- 

 lute. — Orthodon, Seringe. 



* Petals not longer than the calyx. 



— — "2. C. vidgatum, (h'lnn.): hirsute, pale green; stems ascending or spread- 

 ing; leaves ovate or obovate, very obtuse, attenuate at the base; flowers 

 somewhat capitate, when young longer than the pedicels ; capsule attenuate, 

 twice the length of the calyx. — Eng. bot. t. 789; DC. prodr. 1. p.ilo; 

 Darlins-t. ! fl. Cest. ed. 2. p. 277. C. semidecandrum, Walt. Car. p. 241. 

 (fide e'iI.) ; Pursh ! fi. 1. p. 320. C. hirsutum, Muhl. cat. p. 46 ; Ell. ! 

 sk. \. p. 524. C, connatuui. Beck, fl. p. 55. 



In cultivated grounds and waste places, Canada to Georgia ! Louisiana ! 

 and Arkansas!" Introduced? April-Sept.— (l) Stem 6-12 inches high, 

 slightly viscid when young. — Often confounded with the succeeding species 

 by'Anierican authors. C. hirsutum, Muhl. d^c. is, as Dr. Darlington remarks, 

 hardly distinguishable from the European forms of C. vulgalum. It is ex- 

 actly the var. glomeratum, DC. except that it is more hairy. 



"?*-" 3. C. viscosum (hinn.): hirsute and rather viscid; leaves lanceolate-ob- 

 long, obtusish ; cyme rather loosely flowered, with the pedicles longer than 

 the calyx ; capsule nearly twice as long as the calyx. — Eng. bot. t. 790 ; 

 DC. I. c; Darlingt. I. c. p. 278. C. vulgatum, Muhl. cat. (tide Darlingt.) 

 and others! C. fulvum, Raf. in Desv. jour, bot.? 



(i. stamens .5. — C. semidecandrum, Linn. 

 . y. peduncles greatly elongated.— C. viscosum, var. elongatuni, Hook ■"'"• 



bot. -n. i:r. 



