100 BRITISH BOTANY, 



or solitary, simple or branched, 3-3 inches high, slender, wiry 

 and leafy. Sepals 4, rarely 5, lanceolate and scarious at the 

 margin. Petals 4, elhptical, entire or nearly so. Capsule shorter 

 than the calyx, cylindrical, straight, opening by 8, rarely by 10, 

 teeth. 



M. erecta, Sm. Upright Moenchia. — e.b. 609. l.b.s. 166. 

 A. 12. C. 40. Lat. 50-55°. Alt. 0-400 yds. Tern. 53-45°. 



Stems rigid, simple or forked, glabrous. Leaves lanceolate- 

 linear, glabrous and glaucous. Flowers terminal, solitary or 

 few. Bracts herbaceous or slightly scarious. Sepals pointed, 

 with broad scarious margins. Petals entire or slightly emar- 

 ginate, shorter than the sepals. 



On bare sandy places. Annual ; April and May. 



This genus differs from Cerastium in the number of floral 

 organs and iu the smooth glaucous herbage. 



Cerastiujm, Lin. — Annual or perennial plants, smooth, cot- 

 tony or hairy. Leaves ovate or elliptical, rarely lanceolate, 

 combined at the base. Sepals 5, rarely 4. Petals equal in 

 number to the sepals, cleft or notched, rarely entire. Stamens 

 10-8-6, sometimes 5-4. Styles 5, rarely 4-3. Capsule cylin- 

 drical or cylindrical-conical, usually longer than the calyx, 

 straight or curved (bent), opening by twice as many teeth as 

 there are styles in the species. Seeds tubercular, globular, 

 compressed. 



C. triviale, Link. Narrow-leaved Mouse-ear Chickweed. — 



E.B. 790. L.B.S. 193. 



A. 18. C. 82. Lat. 50-61°. Alt. 0-1200 yds. Tern. 52-35°. 



Roots annual or biennial ? Stems usually numerous, reclining 

 at the base and sometimes rooting, pubescent, 4-10 inches. 

 Leaves ovate or oblong, hairy and cihate. Bracts cordate and 

 pointed, sometimes scarious at the edges. Pedicels much longer 

 than the bracts. Sepals blunt, scarious at the margin. Petals 

 about as long as the sepals. 



Very common in grassy places, by roadsides and walls. Bi- 

 ennial or perennial ? April-October. 



C. semidecandrum, Lin. Little Mouse-ear Chickweed. — e.b. 

 1630. L.B.S. 194, etc. 



A. 18. C. 82. Lat. 50-61°. Alt. 0-100 yds. Tern. 50-46°. 



Stem solitary, simple or branched, slender, erect or spreading, 

 sometimes viscid. Leaves ovate-oblong. Bracts membranous 



