54 CARYOPHYLLE^E. [HOLOSTEUM. 



1. H. umbella turn, L. ; lower leaves petioled elliptic -oblong. 

 Old walls and thatched roofs, very rare, Norwich, Eye, and Bury St. Edmunds ; 

 a denizen or native ? Watson; fl. April-May. Stem 4-8 in., very slender, 

 branched at the base. Radical leaves, -1 in. ; cauline very few, sessile, ovate 

 or linear. Floicers few, erect ; pedicels in., deflexed after flowering, erect in 

 fruit ; bracts small, membranous. Sepals white, edges scarious, obtuse. /'< /"/. 

 J in., a little longer than the sepals, white or pale pink. Stamens and styles 

 often 3 each. Capsule twice as long as the sepals. Seeds black. DISTKJB. 

 Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia to N.W. India. 



6. CERAS'TIUM, L. MousE-EAR CHICKWEED. 

 Pubescent rarely glabrous herbs, the hairs articulate, some glandular, 

 others not. Leaves small. Flowers white, in terminal dichotomous cymes. 

 Sepals 5, rarely 4. Petals as many, rarely 0, notched or 2-fid, rarely quite 

 entire or much cut. Stamens 10, sometimes 5 or fewer. Ovary 1-celled ; 

 styles usually 3 or 5, ovules many. Capsules cylindric, often incurved, 

 with twice as many short terminal valves as styles. Seeds compressed, 

 often tubercled ; embryo annular. DISTRIB. All temp, and cold regions; 

 species 40. ETYM. icepas, from the horn-like capsule. 



SECTION 1. Moench'ia, Ehr. (gen.). Sepals acuminate, longer than the 

 entire petals. 



1. C. quaternel'ltun, Fenzl; glabrous, glaucous, stamens 4. Mcenchia 

 crecta, Ehr. 



Gravelly pastures, &c. from Northumberland (rare) southwards ; ascends to 

 1,200 ft. in Wales ; fl. May-June. Annual. Stems 2-6 in., dichotomously 

 branched from the base ; branches slender, stiff. Leaves 1 in., linear, radical 

 sublanceolate ; cauline few, shorter, broader. Flowers few ; pedicels lon^, 

 erect, stiff. Sepals 4, | in. ; margins broad, membranous, white. Petals 4, 

 shorter than the sepals, oblong. Styles 4, short. Capsule subcylindric, as 

 long as the sepals, 8-toothed. DISTRIB. W. Europe from Holland south- 

 wards and west to Hungary, N. Africa ; introd. in the U. States. 



SECTION 2. Ceras'titun proper. Petals notched, 2-fid, or erose. 

 * Annual rarely perennial, hairy and viscid except C. triviale. Sepals 4-5, a 

 long as the petals. (Perhaps all subspecies of one.) 



2. C. tetrandrum, Curtis; cyme leafy, pedicel usually erect when 

 fniiting 2-3 times as long as the capsule, bracts herbaceous, sepals 

 4 rarely 5 acuminate glandular margins narrowly membranous, capsule 

 straight. C. atrovirens and pedunculatum, Bab. 



Sandy and waste places near the sea ; fl. April-Oct. Stem 4-12 in., dichoto- 

 mously branched from the base. Radical leaves obovate-lanceolate ; cauline 

 usually broader upwards. Flowers J in. diam. Petal* notched, veins branched. 

 Capsule scarcely longer than the sepals. DISTRIB. W. Europe from Sweden 

 to Spain and westwards to Hungary. 



3. C. semldecan'drtim. L. ; cyme few- or many-flowered, pedicels a 

 little exceeding the calyx deflexed between flowering and fruiting, bracts 

 half-membranous, sepals usually 5 glandular acute margins broadly mem- 

 branous, capsule slightly curved. 



