CARYOPHYLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY) 185 



7. Cerastium arvense L. Sp. PL 438. 1753. Perennial, downy with re- 

 flexed hairs, caespitose: leaves linear to linear-lanceolate, clasping: cyme 

 few-flowered; pedicels erect or nodding: petals nearly twice longer than the 

 sepals: capsule little exceeding the calyx, nearly straight. (C '. effusum Greene, 

 Pitt. 4: 298. 1901.) Colorado and northward through Utah, Montana, and 

 Wyoming, and across the continent. 



8. Cerastium oreophilum Greene,* Pitt. 4: 297. 1901. More or less 

 glandular-pubescent, with somewhat tufted stems; pubescence either minute 

 and strigose (deflexed upon the lower part of the stem) or spreading and 

 hispidulous, becoming minutely glandular or viscid above: leaves mostly 

 lance-linear, 1-3 cm. long, pubescent or glabrate, numerous below, sparser 

 and smaller upward: flowers large, 8-12 mm. broad, in strict or at length more 

 open cymes: petals twice as long as the sepals: capsule about twice as long as 

 the calyx. Throughout our range. 



7. SAGINA L. PEARLWORT 



Low green herbs, with subulate or filiform glabrous leaves, and small 

 terminal usually long-pediceled flowers. Petals entire or wanting. Styles 

 alternate with the 4 or 5 sepals. Capsule 4- or 5-valved. Seeds several to 

 many. 



1. Sagina saginoides (L.) Brit. Mem. Torr. Club 5: 151. 1894. A glabrous 

 tufted perennial, only a few cm. high: stems slender, decumbent: leaves 

 linear, mucronate, 5-15 mm. long: flowers 3-5 mm. broad, with 5 sepals, petals, 

 and styles: petals scarcely longer than the sepals: stamens 10: capsule ovoid- 

 oblong, twice as long as the obtuse sepals. S. Linnaei. Moist spots and 

 banks in the mountains; New Mexico to arctic America. 



8. ARENARIA L. SANDWORT 



Mostly low more or less tufted or densely caespitose perennials, with ses- 

 sile usually subulate and more or less rigid leaves, and white cymosely pan- 

 icled or capitate flowers. The five sepals distinct or nearly so. Petals 5, 

 entire, not clawed. Stamens 10. Styles 3. Capsule globose, or short-oblong, 

 many-seeded. Seeds not appendaged at the hilum. Includes Alsinopsis 

 Small. 



Valves of the capsule entire; plants low, tufted or caespitose. 

 Glandular-hirtellous throughout . 



Filiform stems 1-4 cm. long 1. A. aequicaulis. 



Slender stems 7-15 cm. long 2. A. Nuttallii. 



Leaves glabrous or nearly so. 



Sepals acute . . . . . . . . . . 3. A. macrantha. 



Sepals obtuse 4. A. sajanensis. 



Valves of the capsule 2-cleft at summit. 

 Leaves oblong or elliptic, not pungent. 



Leaves less than 1 cm. long . . . . . . 5. A. saxosa. 



Leaves more than 1 cm. long . . . . . . . 6. A. confusa. 



Leaves linear, more or less rigid and pungent. 

 Petals distinctly longer than the sepals. 



Cyme congested, usually capitate . . . . . . 7. A. congesta. 



Cyme open. 



Densely glandular-pubescent above . . . . . 8. A. Tweedyi. 



Nearly glabrous throughout 9. A. uintahensis. 



Petals shorter than or merely equaling the sepals. 



Plants low, broadly and densely caespitose; cyme very dense . 10. A. Hookeri. 

 Plants tufted, usually 1-2 dm. high; cyme open . . . 11. A. Fendleri. 



1. Arenaria aequicaulis A. Nels. Perennial from a very slender woody root, 

 glandular or viscid-pubescent throughout, only 3-6 cm. high: stems filiform, 



* A number of other segregates of C. arvense have been published. The writer finds him- 

 self unable to discern in them distinguishing characters. Students are referred to the original 

 descriptions a.: follows: C. Earlei Rydb. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 30: 249. 1903; C. scopulorum 

 Greene, Pitt. 4: 288; C. occidentale Greene, 1. c. 299. If these be distinct, then the above de- 

 scription of C. oreophilum is that of an aggregate. 



