SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 207 



(50) Arenaria. Sandwort. 



* Leaves Jleshy ; capsule three tojive-valved. 



A. peploides : stems short, procumbent, usually forked from 

 a creeping root-stock; leaves numerous, somewhat fleshy, 

 ovate or elliptical, half an inch long, the upper smaller and 

 broader ; flowers few, white, in small, leafy, terminal cymes, 

 more or less unisexual ; petals scarcely longer than the sepals ; 

 capsule nearly globular, opening in three (sometimes 4-5) 

 broad valves. — Sea Pimpernel, Sea Purslane, or Sea Chick- 

 weed. — Maritime sands. Fl. June, July. 



** Leaves thin ; capsules six to ten-valved. 



A. serpyllifolia : annual ; stems dichotomous, much branch- 

 ed, slender, slightly downy, seldom attaining six inches ; high 

 leaves small, ovate, pointed; flowers from the upper axils or 

 forks, on long slender pedicels; petals usually much shorter 

 than the sepals, obovate ; capsule opening in six narrow valves. 

 — Walls and dry sands. Fl. July. [See also p. 48.] 



(51) Stellaria. Starwort. 



S. graminea : stems difi'use or nearly erect, often 1-2 feet 

 long, glabrous, slender, quadrangular ; leaves sessile, linear- 

 lanceolate, pointed ; flowers small, white, in long loose pani- 

 cles, which often become lateral as the flowering advances; 

 sepals three-ribbed ; petals narrow, deeply cleft, seldom ex- 

 ceeding the calyx. — Lesser Stitchwort. — Meadows and bushy 

 pastures. Fl. June to August. 



S. glauca : stems about one foot high, erect, weak, angular, 

 smooth; leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, smooth, glaucous, 

 sessile; flowers solitary or in a few-flowered lax corymb, 

 white ; sepals three-ribbed ; petals deeply cleft. — Marshy 

 places. Fl. June, July. [See also p. 49.] 



