ILLECEBRACE^. * 51 



the calyx, C. hirsutu7n Mithl. C. connatum Beck, Bot. 1st. Ed. C. sewd- 

 decandnmi Walt. 



Fields and hills. Can. to Geor. May— Aug. Q.—Slem 6 — 10 inches high. 

 Flowers wliite. Introduced from Europe. Common Mouse-ear Chickweed. 



2. C. viscoStim, Limi. : hairy and somewhat viscid, deep green ; stems 

 numerous, erect ; leaves lanceolate-oblong; flowers subpaniculate, shorter 

 than their pedicels ; capsule somewhat incurved, terete, as long again as 

 the calyx. C. semidccandrum Linn. 



Fields and road sides. Can. to Louis. May— Aug. %..— Stems &— 11 'mche'.i 

 high. Leaves rather obtuse. Petals white, obovate, a little longer than the 

 calyx. Introduced from Europe. Clammy Mouse-ear Chickweed. 



3. C. arvense Linn. : stems ascending ; leaves hnear-lanceolate, obtuse ; 

 more or less hairy, especially at base ; flowers few, terminal ; peduncles de- 

 flexed, pubescent ; petals twice as long as the calyx ; capsule oblong-cyhn- 

 dric, scarcely longer than the calyx. C. tcnuifolium Pursk. C. Pennsyl- 

 vanicum Horn. 



Rocky places. Can. to Geor. W. to the Rocky Mountains. May— Aug. 

 %-. — Root creeping. Stems 4 — ^3 inches long, ascending, slender, somewhat 

 cespitose. Leaves crowded at the base of the stem, short, ciliate at base, 

 Flowers large, 2 or 3 on terminal pedicels. Petals deeply cleft, white, twice 

 as long as the calyx. Field Chickweed. 



4. C. oblongifoliumTorr. : stems erect or declined, villous; leaves oblong- 

 lanceolate, znostly obtuse ; flowers numerous ; peduncles viscid ; petals obo- 

 vate,2-cleft, twice the length of the oblong obtuse sepals ; capsule cylindrical, 

 about twice as long as the calyx. C. pitbescens Goldie. C. villosum. MiM. 



Rocky places. Can. to Penn. ; rather rare. May, June. %.— Stems 6—12 

 inches high, rather stout, very villous, tomentose at and below the nodes. 

 Flowers larger than in C. arvense, 7 — 15 in a cyme. 



Oblong-leaved Chickweed. 



5. C. nutans Raf. : viscid and pubescent ; stem erect, straight, deeply 

 striate; leaves elongated, distant, lanceolate-linear; panicle much elongated, 

 divaricate, many-flowered, with long fiUform pedicels; petals oblong" bifid 

 at the tip, longer than the calyx ; capsule nodAg, twice as long as the 

 calyx. C. gluti7iosuvi Nutt. C. longepedtmadatum Muhl. 



Moist grounds. Hudson's Bay to Louis. W. to Oregon. June. ^.—Slcm 

 8—12 mches high, very viscid and covered with a woolly pubescence. Lower 

 leaves oblTJng-spatulate, acute. Flowers terminal, m a loose dichotomous pan- 

 ic'*^- Nodding Chickweed. 



* Order XIX. ILLECEBRACE^.— Knotworts. 



Sepals 5, seldom 3 or 4, distinct or more or less cohering. 

 Petals minute, inserted upon the calyx between the lobes, oc- 

 casionally wanting. Stamens as many as the sepals and oppo- 

 site to them, or fewer by abortion. Ovary superior ; styles 2 — 5, 

 distinct or partially combined. Fruit small, dry, 1 -celled, either 

 indehiscent or opening with 3 valves. Seeds solitary or nume- 

 rous, with mealy albumen.— Herbaceous or half shrubby plants, 



