206 SUMMER FLOWERS. 



more or less viscid, loosely branched; leaves oval-oblong, 

 usually pointed, the lower ones stalked ; flowers few, opening 

 in the evening, and then slightly scented, in loose panicles, 

 rather large, white, or rarely pale pink, usually dioecious; 

 calyx softly hairy. — Hedges, fields, and waste places. Fl. 

 June to September. 



** Calyx-lobes mud longer than the petals. 



L. Githago : annual ; stem 2-3 feet high, erect, simple or 

 slightly branched, clothed with long, whitish, appressed hairs ; 

 leaves long, narrow ; flowers on long leafless peduncles, rather 

 large, red, inodorous, remarkable for the long green linear 

 lobes of the calyx, the petals broad, undivided, and without 

 any scales at the base. — Corn Cockle. — Cornfields. Fl. June, 

 July. [See also p. 48.] 



(48) Sagina. Pearlwort, 



S. nodosa : tufted, often flowering the first year ; stems 

 numerous, decumbent, or nearly erect, 2-4 inches high, spa- 

 ringly branched; leaves small, subulate, those of the stem 

 much shorter, with little clusters of minute ones in their axils ; 

 flowers pedicellate, few on each stem, conspicuous, the white 

 obovate petals being twice as long as the calyx ; sepals obtuse ; 

 the parts of the flower usually in fives, with ten stamens. — 

 Wet sandy places. Fl. July, August. 



(49j Alsine. 



A. tenuifolia : annual ; stem 3-4 inches high, slender, erect, 

 much branched, dichotomous, with the small white flowers in 

 the forks, glabrous or minutely downy ; leaves subulate ; 

 sepals narrow ; petals obovate or oblong, shorter than the calyx. 

 — Drv sandv fields. Fl. June. 



