SPECIES AND VARIETIES. ^ 209 



larger; the sepals 2-3 lines long; seeds usually bordered, 

 smooth. — Sea-coast. 



(55) Polycarpon. 



p. tetraphyllum : annual ; stems glabrous, much branched, 

 3-4 inches long, spreading or prostrate ; leaves obovate or 

 oblong, really opposite but placed two pairs so close together 

 as to assume the appearance of a whorl of four ; flowers very 

 small and numerous, in loose, terminal cymes, the sepals 

 barely a line long ; petals much shorter. — South-west coasts. 

 Fl. June, July. 



(56) Corrigiola. 



C. littoralis : annual ; stems short, procumbent or ascend- 

 ing, slender, smooth ; leaves linear or oblong, obtuse, tapered 

 at the base; flowers small, white, crow^led in little cymose 

 heads at the ends of the branches. — Coasts of Devon and 

 Cornwall. Fl. July, August. 



(57) lUecebrum. 



I. verticillatum : annual ; stems prostrate, glabrous, much 

 branched, the branches 1-3 inches high, ascending ; leaves 

 small, opposite, obovate or roundish ; flowers white, in whorls 

 in the leaf-axils. — Sandy marshes in Devon and Cornwall. 

 FL July. 



(58) Elatine. 



E. hexandra : annual ; forming small, matted, creeping 

 tufts, often under water, the stems ^-2 inches long; leaves 

 small, obovate or oblong, tapering at the base ; flowers glo- 

 bular, with three rose-coloured petals scarcely longer than the 



