64 XTI. CARTOPHTLLACE.I, 



bracts ovate, herbaceous. Calyx less than ^ in. long ; sepals hairy, 

 lanceolate, very acute, their margins narrowly membranous. Petals 

 about equal in length to the sepals or a little longer, bifid to about 

 one third of the way down. Capsules more than twice as long as the 

 sepals, curved upwards. Seeds yellowish-brown, minute, roundish- 

 obovoid, tuberculate. Syme, Eng. Bot. v, 2, p. 82, t. 221. Cerastium 

 vulgaium, var. (jlomemta, Edgew. & Hook. f. in El. B. I. v. 1, p. 228 ; 

 var. glomeratum, Trim. El. Cevl. v. 1, p. 85. Cerastium indicum, Woodr. 

 in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1897) p. 124.— Elowers : Sept. 



The only locality in the Bombay Presidency from which the plant has been 

 obtained is Purandhar, a bill fort in the Poona CoUectorate, where it is doubtless an 

 introduction. — Distrib. Throughout the world, 



4. STELLARIA, Linn. 



Annual or perennial herbs, usually diffusely branched. Elowers 

 white, in terminal (rarely axillary), paniculate cymes, rarely subsolitary. 

 Sepals 5 (very rarely 4). Petals as many, 2-partite or 2-fid, or 0. 

 Stamens 10 (sometimes fewer), hypogjaious or perigynous. Disk 

 annular or sometimes divided into prominent glands between the 

 stamens. Ovary 1-celled ; ovules many (rarely 3) ; styles 3 (rarely 2-5). 

 Capsule short, globose, ovoid or oblong, splitting to below the middle 

 into as many simple or 2-fid valves as there are styles. Seeds nume- 

 rous, more or less laterally compressed, tubercled, granulate or nearly 

 smooth ; embryo annular. — Disteib. All temperate and cold regions ; 

 species 70. 



1. Stellaria media, Ci/riU. Charac. Comm. (1784) p. 3fi. A very 

 variable annual; stems 3-20 in. long, much branched, procumbent, with 

 a line of hairs down one side. Leaves -g— 1 in. long, usually glabrous ; 

 the lower long-petioled, ovate ; the upper sessile, elliptic or lanceolate. 

 Elowers white, numerous, in terminal dichotomous cymes ; pedicels 

 pubescent. Sepals lanceolate, subobtuse, hairy or glandular, margins 

 scarious. Petals shorter than the sepals or 0. Stamens 10, or often 

 fewer. Capsules ovoid, longer than the sepals. Seeds brown, acutely 

 tubercled. El. B. I. v. 1, p. 230 ; Boiss. El. Orient, v. 1, p. 707 ; Syme, 

 Eng. Bot. V. 2, p. 93, t. 229 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1897) 

 p. 124; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 3, p. 358. 



The common Chlchrced. Has been found at Mahableshwar (fide Woodrow, 1. c), 

 where it has probably been introduced. 



5. ARENARIA, Linn. 



Annual or perennial, often tufted herbs. Elowers white, very rarely 

 pink, in terminal paniculate or capitate cymes, rarely axillary and sub- 

 solitary. Sepals 5. Petals 5 (rarely 0), entire or slightly notched. 

 Stamens 10 (rarely 5 or 8), inserted on the disk. Disk annular or of 

 inter-staminal glands. Ovary 1-celled; ovules many (rarely few); 

 styles 3-4. Capsule short, rarely exceeding the sepals, with as many 

 entire or 2-fid valves as there are styles. Seeds compressed or turgid, 

 smooth or tubercled ; embryo annular. — Distrib. All temperate and 

 cold regions ; species 130. 



