34 CARYOPHYLLACE^. 



ARENARIA. f.b.i. i8 xiii. 



Sandwort. 



Like STELLARIA but the petals not divided or notched ; 



styles not divided ; capsule opening by the same or 



double the number of valves as styles. 



Species loo, almost all over the world, more especially in the 

 temperate and cold regions. 



Arenaria ncelgherrensis Wight and Arnott ; Herb. 

 Wight 148 ! ; F.B.I. i 239, XIII 14 ; Nilgiri Sandwort. Stem 

 and its numerous branches slender, with a line of pubes- 

 cence down one side. Internodes ^ to ^ inch. Leaves 

 ^/S to }i inch, ovate, one-nerved, hardly acute. Flowers 

 on slender pedicels of I inch in the axils of the upper 

 leaves or in leafy cymes. Sepals ^ inch long and broad, 

 ovate-acute, with a single hairy nerve and thin scarious 

 edges. 



Nilgiris : Ootacamund and Dodabetta (Gough !) and below. 



Very close to A. serpyllifolia L. of Europe, but in habit much laxer, 

 leaves less acute, inflorescenqe Isss distinctly cymose, and sepals with only 

 one nerve and that pubescent. A. serpyllifolia L. ; F.B.I, i 239, XIII 

 14 ; may also occur in a lax form as au introduced weed. It has more 

 pointed leaves, more distinct cymes, and the sepals and bracts with three 

 or five veins. 



SPERGULA. F.B.I. 18 XVI. 



Spiirry. 



Annual herbs with narrow leaves and small scarious 

 stipules. Sepals free ; petals entire ; styles five, alternate 

 with the sepals ; capsule opening by five valves opposite 

 the sepals. 



Species two or three only in temperate climates ; a weed of 

 cultivation. Eng. Spurry. Fr. Spergule. Ger. Spark, Spergel. 



Named from the Latin spargere to scatter. 



