172 HOLOSTEUM POLYCARPON. [CLASS HI. O*XR uz, 



GENUS LVI. HOLOS'TEUM. LINN. Jagged Chickweed. 

 Nat. Ord. CARTO'PHYLI.E.. 



GEN. CHAR. Calyx inferior, of five ovate pieces. Petals five, jagged 

 towards the extremity. Capsule one-celled, opening at the apex 

 with six teeth. Seeds numerous, furrowed on one side, and dotted, 

 Name from 0X0?, all, and OCTTEOV, bone ; by antiphrasis, the tex- 

 ture of the plant being the very reverse of the meaning soft and 

 delicate. 



1. H. umbella' turn, Linn. (Fig. 213.) umbelliferous Jagged Chick- 

 weed. Flowers umbellate, reflexed after flowering, at length erect ; 

 leaves ovate, acute. 



English Botany, t. 27. English Flora, p. 187. Lindley, Synopsis, 

 p. 50. Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 59. 



Root small, fibrous. Stems weak, bent and branched at the base, 

 the upper part erect, from four to five inches high, round, the lower 

 part smooth and leafy, the upper naked, more or less clothed with 

 glandular hairs. Leaves opposite, spreading, ovate, oblong, with an 

 acute point, single-ribbed, glaucous, and of a somewhat succulent tex- 

 ture ; the footstalks dilated, and often combined at the base. Flowers 

 in a terminal umbel, mostly five, their stalks simple, spreading, or re- 

 flexed, having at the base several small bractea;. Calyx of five ovate, 

 acute, permanent pieces. Corolla of five oblong, unequally jagged or 

 toothed petals, of a white or reddish hue. Anthers roundish.* Styles 

 short, slender. Stiymas downy. Capsule cylindrical, its six teeth 

 finally separating into as many valves. Seeds numerous, attached to 

 a central placenta, rough, roundish, its embryo folded back in the 

 albumen. 



Habitat. On old walls ; rare. About Norwich and Bury. 



Annual ; flowering in April. 



This genus is nearly allied to Ceraslium. The jagged, not cloven, 

 extremity of the petals, and the number of stamens, will, however, 

 readily distinguish it. 



GENUS LVII. POLYCARTON. LINN. All-teed. ' 

 Nat. Ord. ILLECE'BREJJ. y 



GEN. CHAR. Calyx inferior, of five ovate mucronate pieces, with 

 membranous margins, and united at the base. Petals five, notched 

 at the extremity. Stamens from three to five. Capsule one-celled, 

 three-valved, many-seeded. Name from TroXv, many, and xaj 

 fruit f on account of the abundance of seed which it produces. 



