I90 CERASTIUM ARVENSE. FIELD MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED. 



seven thousand feet above the level of the sea. One of the plants 

 was taken up like a little treasure, carefully nursed in damp grass 

 and fern leaves, instead of moss, as that happened to be scarce 

 just then, and was brought to Philadelphia, and from this plant 

 our drawing was made. 



But although the unexpected finding of Ccrastium arvaise 

 under these circumstances had the effect of an agreeable sur- 

 prise, it is yet hardly to be wondered at that it should occur in 

 such an elevated region, for it is indeed an Arctic plant, like 

 many of the other species of the genus Cerastium. On one of 

 the expeditions made by Sir John Franklin it was found almost 

 up to the region of perpetual ice. It is a well-known native of 

 Siberia, and is included in the floras of nearly all northern 

 countries. In our own country it extends south to Georgia on 

 the Atlantic slope, and reaches California on the Pacific. In 

 the last-named state, according to Messrs. Brewer and Watson, 

 it is, however, found only sparingly, occurring at the Russian 

 Colony, and at Noyo, in Mendocino County, in sandy fields 

 among shrubs, and on the East Fork of Eel River. The 

 " Botany of California " regards our plant as closely related to 

 another species, C. oblongifolhim, which is found in the Eastern 

 States ; and if both of these forms should come to be regarded 

 as mere varieties of one species, the geographical area of 

 Ccrastium arvcnse would have to be extended considerably. 

 The C. Willdcnovii of the Chilian Alps, the C. tomcntosum, from 

 the mountains of France, and the C. Biebcrsteinii, from tlie 

 mountains of Russia, are also very closely related to our species, 

 the two latter (which are cultivated in gardens) so closely, indeed, 

 that it is difficult to separate them from Cerastiiun arvcnse by 

 any fixed botanical characters. Our species, however, blooms 

 two weeks earlier than the C. iomcntostun, and this is an advan- 

 tage which will recommend it to the cultivator. In Philadelphia 

 gardens it is usually in bloom by the end of April. The plant 

 shows its Alpine origin by dying away completely as soon as the 

 hot weather approaches; but with the return of cool autumn 



