62 
CARYOPHYLLACEJE. (PINK FAMILY.) 
eral by the prolongation of the stem from the upper axils. (Name 
from stella , a star, in allusion to the star-shaped flowers.) 
* Stamens usually fewer than 10. Leaves broad. 
1- S. media, Smith. (Common Chick weed.) Annual or bi¬ 
ennial ; stems spreading, marked with an alternate pubescent line ; 
ea\es ovate, the lower on hairy petioles; petals 2-parted, shorter 
t an the calyx. Fields and around dwellings; a most common 
weed, doubtless brought from Europe. 
~ S. p ubera, Michx. (Great Chjckweed.) Perennial; 
stems spreading, marked with 2 opposite hairy lines; leaves all ses- 
^° ‘° n * or ovate } petals deeply 2-cleft, longer than the calyx. — 
Shaded rocks, Penn, and southward. May. — Leaves 2' long. 
* * Stame ™ mostly 10 ; styles often 4. Perennial 
S. IbllgTipes, Goldie. (Long-stalked Stitchwort.) Shin¬ 
ing or somewhat glaucous, very smooth ; leaves ascending, lanceolate 
or linear-lanceolate, acute, broadest at the base , rather rigid; cyme 
tew-flowered, the long pedicels strictly erect ; petals longer than the 
yx; seeds smooth. — W. New York and Michigan, northward, 
rare. Near No. 4. 
• • longifolia, Muhl. (Stitchwort.) Stem branching 
o\ e, weak , leaves linear, acutish at both ends, spreading; cymes 
na^ei, an at length lateral, peduncled , many-flowered, the slender 
pe ices spreading, petals 2-parted, soon longer than the calyx; seeds 
smooth. -. Grassy places, common. June. — Stem often with rough 
angles, 8 ; -18' high. 
5- S* borealis, Bigelow. (Northern Stitchwort.) Stems 
naccid, many times forked, with a flower in each division, leafy to 
* l ° P ’ leaves hroa <Uy lanceolate , acute, 1-nerved ; petals shorter than 
le ca yx, or often wanting; styles commonly 4 ; pods longer than 
e calyx; seeds smooth. - Shaded swamps, Rhode Island ( Olney ) to 
Michigan, northward. June - Aug. - Stems 5<- 10* high. Earlier 
owera apetalous : latest leaves often reduced to bracts. 
a <l**«&tica, Pollich. (Water Stitchwort.) Stems 
ea , decumbent, prolonged, leaving the naked few-flowered sessile 
cymes lateral; leaves oblong , acute, veined; petals and ripe pods about 
the length of the calyx; styles 3 ; seeds roughened. - In swamps and 
nils, Westchester, Penn., Darlington, &c , and doubtless elsewhere 
northward. 
p , crass if6lia, to which belongs Sagina fontinalis, Short 4* 
, ccor ing to Fenzl, is to be sought in Ohio and Michigan. 
8. CERisxilU, L. Mouse-ear Chickweed. 
pa s , rare y 4. Petals as many, 2-lobed. Stamens twice 
as many, or fewer. Styles equal in number to the sepals and op- 
