Sagina.] CARYOPHYLLEjE. 45 



rush ; Mr. D. Moore. Cunnamara ; Mr. Shuttleworth. Fl. July, 

 Aug. %.. — This comes very near the last species, nor is it easy at all 

 times to distinguish them. Both have very much the habit of S. pro- 

 cumbens. 



7. Elatine. Linn. Water-wort. 



Calyx 3 — 4 parted, persistent, inferior. Petals 3 — 4. Stam. 

 3—4, or 6 — 8. Styles 3 or 4, very short. Capsules 3 — 4- 

 valved, 3 — 4-celled, many-seeded, the dissepiments alternate 

 with the valves. Seeds cylindrical, curved, furrowed, and 

 transversely striated, attached to a central receptacle. — Name 

 said to be derived from eXarr], a pine, to which nothing can 

 be less similar than our present plant. 



Octandria. Tetragynia. 



.. E. hexandra, De Cand. Small Water-wort. Leaves op- 

 posite, rough, with minute points, spathulate ; flowers alternate, 

 pedicellate, hexandrous, tripetalous. Br. Fl. 1. p. 185. — E. tri- 

 petala, Sm. E. Fl. v. ii. p. 243.— E. Hydropiper, E. Bot. t. 

 955. (not Linn.) 



Margins of lakes, rare. On the muddy border of Castlewellan 

 Lake, County of Down, where it was first pointed out to me, in 1808, by 

 Mr. Templeton. Abundant in Enagh Lough, near Derry, and by the 

 side of the river Bann, below Coleraine ; Mr. D. Moore. Fl. July, 

 Aug. 0. — A minute, procumbent, much branching plant, with small 

 solitary flowers. Petals rose-coloured. Seeds most beautifully 

 ribbed, and transversely striated. 



8. Sagina. Linn. Pearl-wort. 



Calyx of 4 sepals. Petals 4, (shorter than the calyx.) Capsule 

 of 1-cell, 4 valves. — Name signifying meat which fattens, but 

 which is little applicable to any of the minute plants belong- 

 ing to this genus. Tetrandvia. Tetragynia. 



1. S. procumbens, Linn. Procumbent Pearl-wort. Perennial, 

 glabrous ; stems procumbent ; leaves shortly mucronate ; petals 

 much shorter than the calyx. Br.Fl. 1. p. 77. E. Fl. v. 1. p. 

 238. E. Bot. t. 880. 



Waste places and dry pastures, frequent. Fl. May — Aug. %. — 

 Stems spreading, two to four inches long, often sending out roots from 

 different parts of the stem at the insertion of the leaves, and these 

 throwing up new plants. Leaves linear-subulate, connate, membranous 

 at the margins at the base. Peduncles solitary, axillary and terminal, 

 about an inch long. Flowers at first drooping. 



2. S. apetala, Linn. Annual small- flowered Pearl-wort. An- 

 nual ; stems slightly hairy, erect or ascending ; leaves aristate, 

 fringed; petals much smaller than the calyx. Br. Fl. \.p. 77. 

 E. FL v. 1. 1). 240. E. Bot. t. 881. 



Dry gravelly places, frequent. Fl. May, June. ©.—More slender 



