Holosteum.] xvin. CARYOPHYLLE^E. (Edgeworth & Hook, f.) 227 



1. H. umbellatum, Linn. ; leaves rosulate petioled elliptic-oblong. 

 JBoiss. Fl. Orient, i. 709. 



KASHMIR, Jacquemont, &c. DISTRIB. W. Asia, N. Africa, Europe. 



/Stem 4-8 in., very slender, branched below. Leaves {-I in. flowers few, erect; 

 pedicels 4 in-, deflexed after flowering, erect after fruiting ; bracts small, membranous. 

 Sepals white, obtuse, edges scarious. Petals rather longer, \ in., white or pale pink. 

 Stamens and styles often 3 each. Capsules exceeding the sepals. Seeds black. 



10. CERASTIU1VI, Linn. 



Pubescent rarely glabrous herbs, often glandular, annual or perennial 

 Leaves usually small. Flowers white, in terminal dichotomous cymes. Sepals 

 5, rarely 4. Petals as many, rarely 0, notched o* 2-fid, rarely quite entire or 

 cut. Stamens 10, rarely 5 or fewer, hypogynous. Ovary 1 -celled; styles 

 usually 3-5 ; ovules many. Capsule cylindric, often curved, with twice as 

 many short valves as styles. Seeds compressed, not arillate ; embryo 

 annular. DISTRIB. Species about 40, all natives of temperate and cold 

 regions. 



Cerastium like Holosteum is with difficulty distinguished by technical characters 

 from Arenaria and Stellaria. 



SECT. I. Dichodon. Styles usually 3. 



1. C. trig-ynum, Villars ; perennial, tufted, stem procumbent with 

 alternating hairy lines or glabrous, leaves oblong-lanceolate glabrous, cymes 

 1-3-nowered, bracts herbaceous with membranous edges. oiss. Fl. Orient. 

 i. 715. Stellaria cerastioides, Linn. Sp. PL 604. Diplodon cerastioides, 

 Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. f. 4915. . 



ALPINE WESTERN HIMALAYA, ajt. 11-17,000 ft., from Kulu to Kashmir, and in 

 WESTERN TIBET, Eoyle, Jacquemont, &c. DISTRIB. Afghanistan, Siberia, W. Asia, 

 Arctic regions, Alps of Europe. 



Nearly glabrous. Leaves \-^ in., distant, obtuse, often recurved. Flowers ^ in. 

 diam.; pedicels very slender, glandular-pubescent, fruiting reflexed. /Sepals linear- 

 oblong, spreading, 1-nerved. Petals deeply 2-fid. Styles usually 3. Seech with 8 rows 

 of dorsal tubercles. Altogether intermediate between Cerastium and Stellaria. 



SECT. II. Strephodon. Styles 5. Valves of the capsule convolute or 

 recurved at the tip, margins not revolute. 



2. C. dahuricum, Fisch. in Spreng. Pugill. ii. 65 ; tall, glabrous or 

 pubescent below, leaves large oblong sessile or auricled, petals twice as 

 long as the sepals, claws bearded, capsule straight, seeds tubercled. Boiss. 

 Fl. Orient, i. 717. 



WESTERN TEMPERATE HIMALAYA, alt. 10-11,000 ft., from Kumaon, Sir. & Wint. to 

 Marri, Stewart. DISTRIB. Dahuria, Siberia, Persia, Caucasus. 



Perennial. Stem stout, ascending amongst shrubs to 12 ft., shining. Leaves 1- 

 2 in., connate, obtuse or acute, margined. CymfS with divaricating brandies and 

 pedicels, which latter are slender, ebracteolate. Flowers f in. diam. Sepals elliptic- 

 oblong, subacute, shining, with narrow scarious edges. Petals twice as long, obcordate, 

 2-lobedl Capsule twice as long as the calyx, striate, many-nerved ; valves revolute. 



3. C. indicum, Wig lit & Arn. Prodr. 43 ; slender, glandular-pubescent, 

 leaves subsessile elliptic ovate or lanceolate acute, petals a little exceeding 

 the calyx, capsule straight, teeth recurved. Thwaites Enum. 24; Wight 

 III. i. t. 26. 



WKSTEKN PENINSULA, Nilghiri and Pulney Mts., Wight, &c. CEYLON, alt. 6-7000 ft., 

 Thicaites. 



Q2 



