90 ENGLISU BOTANY. 



Section III.— DICIIODON. 



Sepals not acuminated. Petals obovate, deeplj^ bifid. Stamens 

 10. Styles generally 3 (more rarely 4 or 5). Capsule generally 

 exscrtcd, straight, ojiening at the apex by twice as many erect or 

 spreading teeth as there are styles. 



SPECIES X.— C ERASTIUM TRIGYNUM. Vill. 

 Plate CCXXVI. 



Dichodon cerastoides, lieich. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vul. V. Caryuph. Tali. CCXXI. 



Fig. 4'J1.5. 

 Stellaria cerastoides, ZJ;i». /S'»j. Eng. Bot. No. Dll. Koclt, Syn. Fl. Germ, et Helv. 



ed. ii. p. 129. 



Boot perennial. Rootstock much branched, producing numerous 

 very slender prostrate slightly-elongated barren shoots and decum- 

 bent or ascendimr flowering stems. Leaves of the barren shoots 

 oblanceolate or elliptical-linear ; those of the flowering shoots gene- 

 rally broader. Pirst pair of bracts not much smaller than the 

 stem-leaves, narrowly-lanceolate, entirely herbaceous ; secondary 

 bracts very much shorter than the flowering pedicels, broadly- 

 lanceolate, entirely herbaceous. Flowers of the cyme generally few, 

 frequently reduced to 1. Sepals lanceolate, obtuse, with broad 

 scarious margins, the herbaceous part with a few short gland-tipped 

 hairs, or occasionally glabrous. Petals twice as long as the sepals, 

 obovate, bifid. Fruit-stalks much longer than the calyx, erect. 

 Capsule ovate-ovoid, straight, nearly twice as long as the calyx. 

 Seeds yellowish-brown, covered witli small very acute tubercles. 

 Stem glabrous, or witli short gland-tipped pubescence, especially 

 towards the top ; leaves quite glabrous. 



On damp rocks on high mountains. Rare. Ben Lawers, in 

 Perthshire ; Ben Nevis and Bed Cairn, Inverness-shire ; Cairn 

 Gorum, Cairn Towl, Ben Macdhui, Ben-na-bourd, Braemar, Aber- 

 deenshire. In the " British Flora " it is said to occur near Bantry, 

 Ireland ; but I know not on what authority. 



England, Ireland ?. Perennial. Summer and Autumn, 



Somewliat creeping, growing in loose straggling tufts, with the 

 stems bare of leaves at tiic base ; the barren shoots 2 to 6 inches 

 long, with rather distant leaves. Flowering stems 2 to 4 inches 

 high, with the leaves often falcate and sub-secund. Flowers about 

 -3- inch across, white. Sepals more spreading while in flower tlian in 



