640 STELLARIA. [CLASS X. ORDER HI. 



appendage. — Named by Linnseus in honour of Patil Henry ^ 

 Gerard Moehring^ a physician, and author of Hortus Proprius, 

 1736. 



1. 1. M. triner'via, Clairville. (Fig. 728.) Three-nerved Chichweed^ 

 or Moehringia. Stem erect, branched ; leaves opposite, ovate, acute, 

 three to five ribbed, petiolated ; flowers solitary, axillary; calyx seg- 

 ments acute, three ribbed, roughish ; petals obovate, oblong, as long 

 as the calyx. 



Arenaria trinervis, Linn. — English Botany, 1. 1483. — English Flora, 

 vol. ii. p. 307.— Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 209.— Liudley, 

 Synopsis, p. 49. 



Root small, tapering. Stem weak, erect, often procumbent at the 

 base, from six to twelve inches high, simple, or mostly much branched, 

 round, clothed with pubescence. Leaves opposite, ovate, acute, entire, 

 three, sometimes five ribbed, the upper ones nearly sessile, the lower 

 on footstalks, nearly as long as itself, pale green, smooth or downy, and 

 the margins ciliated with hairs. Floivers solitary from the axis of the 

 upper leaves, small, white, on long slender erect pedicles, drooping 

 after flowering. Calyx of five lanceolate acute segments, with broadish 

 pale membranous margins, the mid-rib stout and rough, the lateral 

 veins small, inconspicuous. Petals narrow, oblong, obovate, about as 

 long as the calyx, sometimes shorter. Stamens with slender Jilaments, 

 and yellow anthers, of two cells. Capsule ovate, shorter than the 

 calyx, opening with six valves. Seeds numerous, brown, smooth, 

 kidney-shaped, with an arilliform appendage at its base. 



Habitat. — Shady woods and moist places ; frequent. 



Annual ; flowering in May and June. 



GENUS XVI. STELLA'RIA.— Linn. Sti/chivorL 



Nat. Ord. Caryopuyl'le.1:. Juss. 



Gen. Char. Calyx of five pieces. Petals five, deeply cloven. 

 Stamens ten, some of which are occasionally abortive. Styles 

 three. Capsule opening with six teeth at the apex. Seeds 

 numerous. — Name from Stella, a star ; from the star-like ap- 

 pearance of the expanded flowers. 

 Sect. 1. Hylebia, Koch. Flora Germ, et Helv. Capsule sepa- 

 rating to the middle or heloiv into six valves ; columella linear^ 

 elongated ; stem round. 

 1. S. ne'morum, Linn. (Fig. 729.) Wood Stitchwort. Stem round, 

 procumbent at the base, downy ; panicle forked ; leaves ovate, heart- 

 shaped, petiolated, the upper ones ovate, acute, sessile; calyx with 

 lanceolate segments, about half as long as the deeply bifid petals. 



English Botany, t. 92. — English Flora, vol. ii. p. 300.— Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 207.— Lindley, Synopsis, p. 62. 



