PINK FAMILY. G7 



7. SAGINA, PEARLWORT. (Latin name, means rich nourishment, 

 which, however, these small and insignificant plants can hardly be. ) There 

 arc four or five species in the country, none very common ; the most so is 



S. prociimbens. Springy places and damp shores, &c., N. ; a smooth 

 little plant, tufted and spreading, l'-3' high, with almost thread-shaped leaves; 

 the blunt sepals, short white petals, stamens, and styles 4 or rarely 5. 



8. CERASTITJM, MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED. (Name in Greek 

 refers to the horn-shaped pod of some species. The popular name is from the 

 shape and soft hairiness of the leaves of the common species.) 



* Flowers inconspicuous, the deeply 2-cleft petals being shorter or little longer than 



the calyx ; the pods becoming much longer and curving more or less. Flower- 

 ing all summer, white. 



C. vulgatum, COMMON M., from Penn. S., but scarce N., in grassy places. 

 An insignificant soft-hairy weed ; stems erect, 4' - 9' high, slightly clammy ; 

 leaves ovate or obovate, small ; pedicels even in fruit and petals shorter than 

 the calyx. @ 



C. viscdsum, CLAMMY M. Common in grassy places ; stems spreading, 

 6'- 15' long*, clammy-hairy ; leaves oblong; pedicels becoming longer than the 

 calyx ; petals as long as the calyx. @ 2/ 



C. nutans, NODDING-FRUITED M. Common in moist or shady grounds, 

 wild. Clammy-pubescent, erect, 6' -18' high, becoming very loosely -flowered 

 and branched ;" leaves oblong-lanceolate ; petals longer than calyx ; pods long, 

 nodding on the slender flower-stalk and curved upwards. 



* * Floicers conspicuous, the snowy white petals 2 or 3 times the length of the calyx: 



pod shorter : plants forming matted tufts. ^ 



C. arvense, FIELD M. Dry fields, &c. Downy but green ; leaves vary- 

 ing from narrow-oblong to linear ; flowering stems 4' - 6' high, few-flowered ; 

 petals notched at the end. 



C. tomentdsum, COTTONY M. Cult, from Eu. for borders, c., its 

 spreading shoots, crowded with oblong white-woolly leaves, making dense silvery 

 mats ; petals deeply 2-cleft. 



9. STELLARIA, STARWORT-CHTCKWEED. (Name from Latin 

 stella, a star.) Petals white, but sometimes small or none. Fl. spring and 

 summer. None cultivated ; but the first is a weed in every garden. 



* Stems weak and spreading, marked with pubescent lines : leaves broad. 



S. m6dia, COMMON S. or CHICKWEED. In all damp cult, grounds ; 

 leaves ovate or oblong, the lower on hairy petioles ; petals shorter than the 

 calyx, 2-parted ; stamens 3- 10. 



S. pubera, GREAT S. Shaded rocks, wild from Penn. S. & W. ; leaves 

 oblong or oval, sessile ; petals longer than the calyx, 2-cleft. 



* * Stems erect or spreading, and whole plant smooth : leaves narrow, sessile. ^ 



S. longifolia, LONG-LEAVED S. or STITCIIWORT. Common in damp 

 grassy places N. ; stem weak, 8' -18' high; leaves linear, widely spreading X 

 flowers numerous on slender spreading pedicels in a very loose cyme ; petals t^fat/i 

 2-parted, longer than the calyx. 



S. borealis, NORTHERN S. Wet grassy places N. ; stem 3' -10' high, 

 forking repeatedly and with flowers in the forks of the leafy branches ; leaves 

 broadly lanceolate or narrow-oblong ; petals shorter tl*m the calyx, or none. 



10. ARENABIA, SAND WORT. (So named because several grow in 

 sand or sandy soil.) All the following are wild, also some others less com- 

 mon. Fl. spring and summer. 



* Petals inconspicuous, white. 



A. serpyllifolia, THYME-LEAVED S. An insignificant little weed, in 

 sandy or gravelly waste places, 2' - 6' high ; stems erect, roughish, much 

 branched; leaves ovate, pointed ; petals scarcely longer than the 3-5-nervcd 

 pointed sepals. 



