46 CARYOPHYLLE^E. [Armaria. 



than the last, smaller and annual. Leaves narrower, more bristle- 

 pointed, more glaucous, and slightly hairy at the margins, sometimes 

 glabrous. Stems also hairy. Petals always present, according to 

 Mr. W. Wilson, obcordate, or wedge-shaped and truncated. Hooker. 



3. S. maritima, Don. Sea Pearl-wort. Annual, glabrous ; 

 stems erect or procumbent only at the base ; leaves fleshy, ob- 

 tuse ; petals none ; calyx rather longer than the capsule. Br. 

 Fl. 1. p. 78. E. Bot. t. 2195.— S. stricta, Fries. 



Sea coast, not unfrequent. Gravelly places near Ringsend, at 

 Narrow-water near Newry, and other places on the coast, also on rocks 

 on the shore below Sligo, very abundant. Fl. May — Aug. 0. — A 

 very distinct and well marked species, with a reddish or purplish tinge, 

 especially on the stems and calyces. 



9. Arenaria. Linn. Sandwort. 



Calyx of 5 sepals. Petals 5, undivided. Capsule 1-celled, 

 many-seeded. — Named from arena, sand ; the greater num- 

 ber of species growing in sandy soils. 



Decandria. Trigynia. 



He Stipules none. 



1. A. pcploides, Linn. Sea-side Sandwort. Glabrous ; leaves 

 ovate, acute, fleshy; calyx acute, ribless. Br. Fl. 1. p. 206. 

 E. Fl. v. ii. p. 305. E. Bot. t. 189. 



On sandy sea shores, frequent, Fl. July. %. — Root long and 

 creeping, slender. Stems decumbent at the base ; branches erect, 

 leafy upwards. Leaves large, decussate, connate, fleshy, shining, a 

 little curved. Flowers solitary, or two or three together, in the axils 

 of the upper leaves, nearly sessile, closing in the shade. Petals white, 

 small, scarcely longer than the calyx, distant, broadly ovate, shortly 

 clawed : surrounding the germen are ten glands, alternating with the 

 stainens. Capsule large, roundish, three to five valved, with compa- 

 ratively few, large, and black seeds. The habit of this is very different 

 from the rest of the genus, and it is said that the flowers are dioecious. 

 It is certain that very extensive patches of the plant have abortive 

 flowers, as Doctor Hooker well remarks. The curved embryo, common 

 to all the plants of this order, is very conspicuous in the large seeds of 

 this species when in a recent state. 



2. A. trinervis, Linn. Three-nerved Sandwort. Leaves ovate, 

 acute, petiolate, 3- (rarely 5-) nerved, ciliated ; flowers solitary ; 

 calyces rough on the keel with 3 obscure ribs. Br. PI. 1. p. 

 206 E. Fl. v. ii. p. 307. E. Bot. t. 1483. 



Shady woods and moist places. Hedge banks by the road-side be- 

 tween Powerscourt gate and the Dargle pate, and other places in the 

 County of Wicklow, not unfrequent. Fl. May. If.. — Stems one foot 

 high, much branched, pubescent. Upper leaves sessile. Floiverstalks 

 an inch or more long, from the forkings of the extremities of the stem ; 

 in fruit spreading, the upper part deflexed. Petals oblong, ovate, 

 white, scarcely longer than the acute segments of the calyx. 



