234 CARYOPHYLLACE^. Stellaria. 



■with spreading leaves and " very obtnse " sepals, is comparatively rare. The following, 

 although the best marked varieties, are connected by innumerable puzzling intermediate 

 forms. 



Var. leeta, Watson. Low, smooth or somewhat pubescent, 1 to 4 inches in height, 

 usually very glaucous, densely leafy at the base : leaves carinate, lanceolate-subulate to 

 linear, rather rigid, erect, 2 to 6 lines long, shorter than in the type, narrower than in the 

 following. — Bibl. Index, 112. *S. Iceta, Richards. 1. c. ed. 1, App. 738 (reprint, p. 10); 

 Hook, in Parry, 2d Voy. App. 390, & Fl. Bor.-Am. i. 96. S. stricta, var. y, Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. 

 i. 96. S. longlpes, var. 5, Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 185. — Arctic America to the Rocky Mts. of 

 Montana and Wyoming; also at Gaspe', Lower Canada, Allen. (Siberia.) A very similar 

 form has been found on the coast of New Brunswick, Fowler. The variety pedunculAris 

 of Fenzl is a boreal form somewhat intermediate between this variety and the next, and 

 indefinitely characterized by still more elongated peduncles. 



Var. Edwardsii, Watson, 1. c. lis. Low, smooth or pubescent : leaves lanceolate to 

 ovate-lanceolate or even ovate, shorter than in the type : stems usually but 2-3-flowered ; 

 the lower peduncles axillary, much longer than the others. — S. Edwardsii, R. Br. in Parry, 

 1st Voy. App. 271 ; Cham. & Schlecht. Linnaa, i. 48; Hook. 1. c. t. 31 ; Fl. Dan. t. 2290. 

 S. nitida, Hook, in Scoresb. Greenl. 411 ; Cham. & Schlecht. 1. c. 47. Alsine longipes, var. 

 Edwardsii, Britton, 1. c. — Brit. America from Labrador to Brit. Columbia, northward to the 

 arctic regions ; Alaska. (Siberia.) 



b. Seeds distinctly roughened under a lens. 

 S. GRAMfNEA, L. Stcms asccudiug, smooth and shining, 1 to 2^ feet high, sharply 4-angled 

 (rhombic in cross-section) ; internodes usually elongated : leaves lance-linear, thickish, atten- 

 uate, furrowed above and with midrib prominent beneath : inflorescence a broad terminal 

 pedunculate cyme (larger and looser than in S. longifvlia), often accompanied by one or two 

 smaller cymes springing at its base ; pedicels elongated, spreading or deflexed : capsule 

 exceeding the calyx. — Spec. i. 422; Eng. Bot. t. 803; Fenzl in Ledeb. Fl. Ross. i. 391 ; 

 Wats. & Coulter in Gray, Man. ed. 6, 87. Alsine graminea, Britton, 1. c. — Introduced in 

 moist grassy places, Newfoundland to Maryland, and in Northern States across the conti- 

 nent; common. (Eu., Asia.) A shade form, var. lanceolAta, Fenzl, 1. c. 392, is not infre- 

 quent, in which the leaves are lanceolate and more narrowed at the base or the lowest even 

 subpetiolate. The inflorescence rarely becomes seemingly lateral through the development 

 of a sterile branch from its base as in S. longijhlia. Fenzl has noted that the flowers of 

 aS. graminea are of different sizes, the smaller being the more fertile. 



S. uliginosa, Murr. Low, weak, diffuse : stems numerous, leafy : leaves lanceolate or 

 elliptic-lanceolate, 6 to 8 lines long, acute at each end : inflorescences few-flowered, pedun- 

 culate or sub-sessile, much smaller than in the last, becoming decidedly lateral, \\ inches or 

 less in length : flowers smaller and petals relatively shorter than in the related species : 

 sepals very acute. If lines in length. — Prod. Stirp. Gott. 55; Fenzl, 1. c. 393; Eaton & 

 Wright, N. A. Bot. 442 ; Warming, Bot. Foren. Festskr. 1890, 216, f. 10. S. alsine, Hoffm. 

 Deutschl. Fl. i. 153; Muhl. Cat. 45. S. borealis, Darlingt. Fl. Cest. 274. Larbrea idiginosa. 

 Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. i. 93, as to syn. in part, but not as to pi. of Chamisso. Alsine idiginosa, 

 Britton, 1. c. — On wet rocks, in brooks, etc., usually in deep shade, Atlantic Slope, Placentia, 

 Newfoundland, Robinson & Schrenk ; Halifax, N. S., Macoun, to Delaware, Tatnall, and 

 Maryland ; not common ; fl. May to November. (Eu., Asia.) 



-H- ++ Bracts foliaceous (except the uppermost in S. borealis, var. corollina). 

 = Leaves narrowly elliptical to lanceolate or linear. 



S. longipes, Goldie, may be sought here, as weak specimens with solitary terminal long- 

 peduncled flowers do not always show the scarious bracts which are developed in more 

 vigorous plants. 



S. borealis, Bigel. Suberect, 6 to lO inches in height, smooth or nearly so : leaves lanceo- 

 late, attenuate, 6 to 18 lines long, with one prominent nerve: pedicels scattered, 8 to 14 

 lines in length, often deflexed: sepals ovate-lanceolate, scarious-margined, acute or often 

 narrowed to an obtusish apex : petals much shorter than the calyx or none : capsule narrowly 

 ovoid, aciitish, 1-^ to 2 times as long as the sepals ; seeds smooth. — Fl. Bost. ed. 2, 1 82 ; Torr. 

 & Gray, Fl. i. 185 ; Fenzl, 1. c. 381 ; Fl. Dan. t. 2355. S. aquatica, Cham. & Schlecht. Lin- 



