60 AMONG THE WILD FLOWERS. 
A little plant on many walls, with incon- 
spicuous white flowers and hairy leaves, the 
seed pod or capsule opening when ripe with 
ten teeth, and curving like a horn, is Cerastium 
glomeratum, Broad-leafed Mouse-ear. It is 
one of the CaryoPpHYLLAcE&. The white 
downy plant of this genus, frequently used for 
edging in gardens, is Cerastium tomentosum. 
The name of the genus is from the horn-like 
appearance of some of the Capsules. 
If you find a little plant, 2 to 6 inches high, 
among short grass, with a pale yellow, brush-like 
tuft of Anthers at the top, and, close to them 
on the same stalk, narrow dark spikes with the 
stigmas of pistils protruding, this is Carex 
precox, the earliest of the Sedge family. The 
description of this genus, of which Professor 
Babington gives 70 British species, must be 
reserved till more specimens are attainable. 
