122 CARYOPHYLLE^ 



more resembles the Lesser Stitchwort than either of the others, and like that 

 species, its blossom is deeply cleft ; but the moist marshy land, and not the 

 dry open down, is the place on which we must look for it. The stem is about 

 a foot or a foot and a half high. 



5. Bog Stitchwort (S. uliginusa). — Stems spreading, angular ; leaves 

 smooth, broadly lanceolate, with a rigid tip ; flowers panicled ; petals deeply 

 2-cleft, shorter than the 3-nerved sepals, which are united at the base. 

 Plant annual. Those who are wont to roam among the coarse mosses which 

 grow on our moist lands, probably often see this little Stitchwort, for it 

 rejoices in the soil of such spots, as well as in the sides of ditches and rivulets, 

 and is very common. Its white flowers are so small that one would hardly 

 notice them among the broad leaves. They expand in June. The stems are 

 about a foot long. 



G. Wood Stitchwort {S. nimorum). — Lower leaves stalked, and heart- 

 shaped ; upper ones egg-shaped, and sessile ; panicle of flowers forked. Plant 

 perennial. This rare species of Stellaria is found chiefly in the north of 

 England, or in the lowlands of Scotland. It is easily distinguished from the 

 others by the large heart-shaped lower leaves, which are sprinkled with little 

 raised dots, that render the surface rough. The stems ai-e weak, and about a 

 foot or a foot and a half long, doAviiy at the upper part, but often smooth 

 below. The flowers appear in May and June, and the petals are white, 

 deeply cleft, and twice as long as the sepals. 



11. Sea Purslane {Honckenya). 



Ovate-leaved Sea Purslane {H. pepUides). — Leaves sessile, egg- 

 shaped, acute, smooth, fleshy ; sepals obtuse, with white margins ; stems very 

 fleshy, decumbent at the base ; calyx without ribs. Plant perennial. This 

 plant, Avhich is often called Sea-side Sandwort, and placed in the genus 

 Arenaria, is frequently very puzzling to the unpractised botanist. It is very 

 unlike the sandworts in general, and is so stout and succulent that it would 

 rather remind us of the stoneorop family. It is very peculiar, and we know 

 of no British plant which has its leaves more distinctly decussate. Leaves 

 are said to be decussate when they cross each other at right angles ; and 

 although, when older, this arrangement is not so distinct, yet the J^oung 

 shoots show very plainl}^ the four distinct rows in which they were crowded. 

 This Sea Purslane grows in tangled clumps on the sand, spreading its 

 stems over the ground, the rich glossy green leaves having none of the 

 glaucous tint of most other sea-side plants. One rarely sees its flowers ; 

 they appear in June, and are small and white, but they never expand in 

 cloudy weather, or long after noonday. The roundish capsules contain a few 

 seeds, which are large in proportion to the size of the plant, and when 

 matured are quite black. The author has occasionally found them as large 

 as a pea. This flower is often called the Sea Pimpernel ; it is confined to the 

 sand or shingle, or the salt-marsh, never growing in inland districts. It is 

 very common on the shores of Iceland, and is there prepared for food by 

 being fermented. 



