Crrastium.'] xvir. caryophyllacea: (oliver). 141 



slightly exceeding tlie sepals, 2-fi(l or 0. Capsule cylindrical sli^rhtly curved 

 above, exceeding tlie calyx more or less.— C. simeiibe, Hochst. in Pl/Schimp. 

 A byss. 



Upper Guinea. Camaroons mountain, Mann ! 

 Nile Iiand Abyssinia, Sckimper ! and others. 



C. octandra, Hochst. ; Rich. Fl. Abyss, i. 45, is a tetramerous variety occurring in Abys- 

 siuia. 



A cosmopolitan weed, apparently truly indigenous in tropical Africa, at least on high 

 ground. 



2. C. africanum, Oliv. A weak brandling herb, attaining 1-2 ft., 

 with slender internodes 1-2^ in. long, shortly glandular-pilose, especially 

 above. Leaves membranous, plane, spreading, sessile, lanceolate, very acute, 

 sparsely scabrid-pilose, f-l| in. long. Flowers in small, terminal, few- 

 flowered cymes, with the slender rather short pedicels, glandular-pilose. Se- 

 pals ovate-lanceolate, rather acute, shorter than the narrow oblanceolate very 

 shortly 2-tid or nearly entire petals. Styles 5, very short. Capsule narrowly 

 ovoid, straight, exceeding the calyx, opening at the apex in 10 very short 

 teeth or 5 at length 2-fid. Cotyledons incumbent. — Arenaria africana, 

 Hook. f. in Journ. Linn. Soc. vii. 184. 



Upper Guinea. Camaroons mountain, 7000-10,000 ft., Mann ! 



b. STELLARIA, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. 149. 



Sepals free, 5 (or 4). Petals as many, 2-fid or 2-partite. Stamens 10 

 or f( wer. Styles usually 3. Capsule globose, oblong or ovoid, dehiscing in 

 as v.any 2-fi-d valves as styles or twice as many and entire. — Diffuse herbs. 

 Leaves plane, rarely subulate. Flowers white, usually in terminal dichoto- 

 mous paniculate cymes. 



A numerous and wide-spread genus, in temperate, arctic, and mountain regions, 'i'he 

 only indigenous species known to me is endemic. 



1. S. Manniiy Hook.f. in Journ. Linn. Soc. vii. 183. A weak, diffuse, 

 slender, nearly glabrous herb, from a few inches to 1 or 2 ft. ; branches as- 

 cending, sparingly setulose or glabrous. Leaves rather finnly membranous, 

 ovate, very acute, entire or crisped, scabrid-punctate above, 1 in. long or 

 less, \-\ in. broad, slender, on petioles of \-\ in. Flowers in small, few- 

 flowered, divaricate, terminal panicles ; pedicels and calyx minutely glandular- 

 pubescent. Sepals linear-lanceolate, acute. Petals 2-fid ; lobes narrow, 

 acute, connivent, nearly equalling the sepals. Ovary globose, with 3-5 

 ovules. 



Upper Guinea. Camaroons mountain, 7000 ft., Mann .' St. Thomas, Dr. Welicilsch ! 



Dr. Hooker points out that this plant is nearly allied to Ceylon and lliinalayau 9i>ccif». 



In Dr. Schweinfurth's ' Flora ^Ethiopica' (p. CO), there is a notice of " A\ Braunjana, 

 Fenzl in litt." The name is applied to a well-marked plant, with the habit of 5. m^dia, 

 collected by Schimper in Abyssinia. No description is given. 



[S. media, L. An annual weed of cultivated ground, in every quarter of the world, pro- 

 bably originally dispersed from Europe, no doubt occurs in various localities within the 

 limits of this llora. I have only seen tropical African specimens from Angola, where Dr. 

 AVelwitsch gathered it as a weed of cultivation. It dilfers from the preceding in its soliUry 

 pedicels from the forks of the leafy branches, the internodes of which arc marked by a softly 

 pubescent line, and other characters.] 



