126 CARYOPHYLLE^ 



where it grows, be missed by the singing-birds, which make a large demand 



on the capsules, so well stored with tiny seeds. Thomson has said, speaking 



of Nature, — 



" All is form'd 

 With number, weight, and measure, all design'd 

 For some great end ! where not alone the plant 

 Of stately growth ; the herb of glorious hue 

 Or foodful substance : not the labouring steed, 

 The herd and flock that feed us ; not the mine 

 That yields us store for elegance and use ; 

 The sea that loads our tables, and conveys 

 The wanderer, Man, from clime to clime ; with all 

 Those rolling spheres that from on high shed down 

 Their kindly influence ; not these alone, 

 Which strike even eyes incurious, but each moss. 

 Each shell, each crawling insect, holds a rank 

 Important in the plan of Him who framed 

 This scale of beings ; — holds a rank, which, lost, 

 Would break the chain, and leave behind a gap 

 Which Nature's self would rue." 



This Mouse-ear Chickweed bears small white flowers throughout the 

 summer, and its seed-vessels, as they ripen, lengthen and become curved. 

 Its stems are spreading. 



2. Broad-leaved Mouse-ear Chickweed (C. glomerdlum). — Stem 

 hairy, nearly erect, the upper part viscid ; leaves egg-shaped ; petals as long 

 as the calyx; bracts leafy. Plant annual. This is a smaller species than 

 the last, though, in other respects, very similar to it, but it may be distin- 

 o-uished by its tufted flowers ; these are white and inconspicuous, the petals 

 being sometimes altogether wanting. They may be found from March to 

 September, and after flowering, the capsules, curving upwards as they ripen, 

 occur in great numbers. The stem is much branched at the lower part, and 

 grows to the height of six or eight inches. Lyell remarks of this Chick- 

 weed, that it is among the most common plants in the world, being a truly 

 cosmopolitan species. We may find it everywhere in our own land by road- 

 sides, and in fields and pastures. 



3. Five-stamened Mouse-ear Chickweed, or Little Mouse-ear 

 Chickweed (0. semi-decdndrum). — Leaves egg-shaped, or oblong ; stem hairy 

 and viscid, bearing few flowers; upper half of all the bracts and sepals 

 chaffy. Plant annual. This is a common little herb on dry walls, or dry 

 sandy banks and waste places, distinguished from similar species by usually 

 having five stamens, though in a few cases these are but four in number. 

 It blossoms very early in the year, its white flowers being almost hidden by 

 the calyx, which is twice as long as the petals. At the same season the little 

 vernal whitlow grass often grows beside it, though this Chickweed is more 

 frequent than that plant, scarcely an old wall being without it. It remains 

 in flower until May, withering, as Sir J. E. Smith observes, before the 

 narrow-leaved species begins to put forth its far less conspicuous blossoms. 

 It is a pretty little plant, very generally known by the name of Spring 

 Mouse-ear. 



4. Four-cleft Mouse-ear (C. tetrdndrum). ^— heaves egg-shaped or 

 oblong ; stem forked, hairy, and somewhat viscid, with flowers in the forks ; 

 calyx rather longer than the petals. Plant annual. This species, which is 



