CLOVE PINK TRIBE 119 



have its appearance quite changed by the petals closing on a black cloud 

 13assing over and discharging a few drops of rain." 



2. Knotted Spurrey (S. noddsa). — Leaves opposite, growing together 

 at the base, upper ones very short, growing in knots, and having tufts of 

 young leaves in the axils ; petals much larger than the calyx ; flower-stalks 

 alwaj'^s erect. Plant perennial. As the Rev. C. A. Johns has remarked, in 

 his "Flowers of the Field," this species may be known by its tufted leaves, 

 Avhich distinguish it from any other British plant. Its flowers are very 

 pretty, and showy for its size ; they grow two or three together, on a stem 

 about three or four inches high, and appear in August and September. The 

 plant is not unfrequent on wet sandy fields and marshy places. The central 

 stem is shorter than the lateral ones, and bears no flowers. Some writers 

 consider this and the two following species as pearlworts, and place them in 

 the genus Saglna. 



3. Pearlwort Spurrey (*S'. saginoides). — Leaves opposite, awl-shaped, 

 and tipped M'ith spines ; flower-stalks solitary, very long, and smooth ; petals 

 shorter than the calyx. Plant perennial. This is a very small jjlant, not 

 uncommon on the Highland mountains ; bearing drooping white flowers in 

 June and August. Also known as Sagina linncei. 



4. Smooth Awl-shaped Spurrey (*S'. subuldta).—Lea,\es opposite, 

 awl-shaped, crowned, and slightly fringed ; flower-stalks solitary and very 

 long; petals rather longer than the calyx. Plant perennial. This plant, 

 Avhich is very similar in appearance to the procumbent pearlwort, is common 

 on gravelly pastures ; its white flowers appearing in June and July. 



10. Stitchwort {Stelldria). 



1. Chickweed (*S'. vi&lia).—hesLyes egg-shaped, with a short point; 

 stems with a hairy line alternating from side to side ; petals deeply 2-cleft, 

 not longer than the sepals ; stamens 5 — 10. Plant annual. Everybody 

 knows this common little plant. Our fathers called it also Hen's Inheritance; 

 its numerous seeds and young tops affording a good supply of food, not alone 

 to the poultry which may stray over the grass lands, but also to those singing- 

 birds which God has sent to gladden the heart of man, and to fill the wild 

 wood with songs of joy. 



The Chickweed grows everywhere on rich cultivated land. Now we 

 find it springing up in the garden, after a spring rain, making the beds green 

 with its young shoots, and even in winter having the light tint of the spring 

 leaf. In the fields it calls for the weeder's care ; and under the hedge-bank 

 its white flowers bloom all the year long, save Avhen the snows have covered 

 every green thing. It is a very valuable plant to birds ; nor is it one of the 

 worst of those herbs which men have sometimes boiled for their food. We 

 need hardly describe its small flower, for it may mostly be seen, like a little 

 star among its leaves, when the sun is shining. Although the flowers are 

 produced all the year round, in winter they do not open, but they manage, 

 nevertheless, by self-fertilization to perfect an aljundance of seed, so that 

 they are sowing it from one end of the year to the other. Many of the 

 flowers are without petals, or have them gi^eatly reduced in size. Forecasts 

 of weather drawn from their open or closed condition are most illusory. 



