626 



S T E 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



STE 



The bractes are like those of the preceding species ; calices 

 v/hite ; corolla blue. Native of Africa. 



36. Statice Spicata. Stem round, leafless; spikes alter- 

 nate, cylindrical ; leaves sinuate. Root tuberous ; calix and 

 petals whitish. Native of Persia. 



37. Statice Mucronata; Curled Sea Lavender. Stem 

 curled ; leaves elliptic, entire; spikes directed the same way. 

 Root perennial, branched, fibrous, fragrant; flowers sessile, 

 two from each glume, directed one way, ascending, very 

 close, purple. Native of Morocco. 



38. Statice Globularifolia. Leaves acuminate, horizontal ; 

 panicle loose; racemes terminating, directed one way; bor- 

 der of the calix and petals white. The leaves vary in shape. 

 Native of Barbary, found by the hot springs near Bona. 



39. Statice Spathulata. Leaves radical, spatulate, obtuse, 

 glaucous, quite entire, on long petioles ; scape round ; 

 branches panicled ; flowers racemed, directed one way. 

 Native of Barbary, on rocks near La Calle. 



40. Statice Caroliniana. Scape round ; panicles divaricate, 

 very branchy; calices acute; leaves lanceolate-oblong,slightly 

 obtuse, glabrous ; flowers blue. Grows in salt marshes along 

 the sea-coast, from New Jersey to Carolina. 



Stellaria ; a genus of the class Decandria, order Trigynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth five-leaved ; leaf- 

 lets ovate, lanceolate, concave, acute, spreading, permanent. 

 Corolla: petals five, two-parted, flat, oblong, shrivelling. 

 Stamina: filamenta ten, filiform, shorter than the corolla, 

 alternately longer and shorter; antherse roundish. Pistil: 

 germen roundish; styles three, capillary, spreading; stigmas 

 obtuse. Pericarp: capsule ovate, covered, one-celled, six- 

 valved. Seeds: very many, roundish, compressed. Observe. 

 The third species has the petals five-parted. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix: five-leaved, spreading. Petals: five, 

 two-parted. Capsule: superior, one-celled, many-seeded, 

 six-toothed at top. Seeds : numerous. For the propagation 



and culture of the plants of this genus, see Arenaria. 



The species are, 



1. Stellaria Nemorum; Wood Stitchwort. Lower leaves 

 cordate, petioled ; upper ovate, sessile ; panicle dichotomous. 

 Root perennial, small, creeping; stems several, weak and lax, 

 three feet high. The numerous star-like flowers are visible 

 at a distance, and are of delicate structure when closely 

 examined : they are white and upright, in a terminating, 

 dichotomous, many-flowered, divaricating, pubescent panicle, 

 having a pair of small leaves at each of the forkings. Native 

 of Europe. It is generally confined to moist woods and the 

 borders of clear shaded springs, especially in the northern 

 comities of England, and the low lands of Scotland, where 

 it flowers in May. Found near Casterton Mill, Kirby Lons- 

 dale ; near Kendal ; near Darlington ; about Broomholm and 

 Langholm in Eskdale ; and at Springfield and Hoddam Castle ; 

 and abundantly in Annandale, and at Meavis Bank. 



2. Stellaria Dichotoma ; Forked Stitchwort. Leaves ovate, 

 sessile; stem dichotomous; flowers solitary, fruiting; pedun- 

 cles reflexed. Root annual ; corolla white. It flowers in 

 July. Native of Siberia. 



3. Stellaria Radians; Ray-flowered Stitchwort. Leaves 

 lanceolate, serrulate ; petals five-parted. Flowers terminal, 

 solitary, white, on slender stalks. Native of Siberia, in bogs. 



4. Stellaria Biilbosa; Bulbous Stitchwort. Leaves ovate, 

 veinless beneath ; stem somewhat branched ; peduncle one- 

 flowered ; root filiform, creeping, bulbiferous. Native of the 

 mountains of Carinthia, in moist and shady places. 



5. Stellaria Holostea ; Greater Stitchwort. Leaves lance- 

 olate, serrulate; petals bifid; calix nerveless. Root perennial, 

 creeoing, weak, slender, jointed, sending down fibres to a con- 



ile distance; stems several, growing thick together about 

 a foot high, decumbent at the base, slender, and very delicate; 

 flowers on very long rugged erect peduncles, from the axils 

 of the upper pair of leaves, forming a sort of dichotomous 

 panicle ; corolla white. Native of Europe. It is very com- 

 mon in woods, among bushes, and about dry hedge bottoms 

 in England, flowering in May and June. Its large brilliant 

 white starry blossoms render it very conspicuous in spring. 



6. Stellaria Graminea ; Lesser Stitchwort. Leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, qnite entire; panicle terminating, divaricating; 

 calix three-nerved, equal, or nearly so, to the petals. Root 

 perennial, creeping ; stem and flower-stalks perfectly smooth. 

 The white starry blossoms of this delicate plant prettily 

 bespangle Furze-bushes, Heath, and low Broom, on a gra- 

 velly or sandy soil ; and its herbage being concealed by the 

 bushes or grass, and the stalks of the panicle very slender, 

 the flowers seem suspended in air. They are principally 

 observable in June and July. Native of Europe. 



7. Stellaria Glauca; Glaucous Marsh Stitchwort. Leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, quite entire, glaucous; peduncles erect; 

 calix three-nerved, shorter than the petals ; flowers almost 

 twice as large as the preceding. It flowers in June and July. 

 Native of Germany and England. Found in the Isle of 

 Ely; near Oxford; and in Peckham fields, &c. 



8. Stellaria Crassitblia ; Thick-leaved Stitchwort. Leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate, thickish, glaucous ; peduncles one-flow- 

 ered, solitary, axillary ; petals bigger than the calix ; stem 

 upright. Annual. Native of Germany, in moist meadows. 



9. Stellaria Uliginosa; Bog Stitchwort. Leaves elliptic- 

 lanceolate, quite entire, callous at the tip; flowers subpani- 

 cled, lateral ; petals shorter than the calix. Root annual, 

 small, and fibrous; herb weak and slender, smooth, of a pale 

 and somewhat glaucous green. Mr. Curtis remarks, that the 

 leaves are united at the bottom, above half an inch in length,, 

 and two or three lines in breadth, frequently growing to one 

 side of the stalk, and bending towards each other so as almost 

 to touch at the points ; and that the tips are conspicuously 

 brown and callous ; also that the flowers would be terminating, 

 did not a new shoot, rather than a continuation of the stem, 

 proceed from the panicle. It flowers in June and July, and 

 is not uncommon in England. Native of Europe on the sides 

 of springs, rivulets, ditches, and wet meadows. 



10. Stellaria Undulata; Wave-leaved Stitchwort. Leaves 

 oblong, waved; stem angular; flowers axillary. Branches 

 angular, erect. Native of Japan, by the way-sides. 



11. Stellaria Cerastoides; Alpine Stitchwort. Leaves 

 elliptic-oblong, obtuse ; stem subbiflorous; calices one-nerved, 

 pubescent. Root perennial, creeping; flowers erect, white, 

 appearing in June. Native of the mountains of Lapland, 

 Norway, Switzerland, France, Piedmont, and Scotland, where 

 it was found near Invercauld. 



12. Stellaria Multicaulis ; Many-stalked Stitchwort. Leaves 

 lanceolate, smooth; branches upright, quite simple; pedun- 

 cles subsolitary, terminating; petals bigger than the calix. 

 Root creeping, filiform ; branches or stems quite simple, 

 erect, numerous, from the root. Very different from the pre- 

 ceding species. Native of Carinthia. 



13. Stellaria Ilumifusa; Procumbent Stitchwort. Leaves 

 ovate, mostly on one side, sessile; stems procumbent, four- 

 cornered ; peduncles solitary, abbreviated. This is an annuaf 

 plant; flowers terminal, white, rather showy; petals a little 

 larger than the calix. Native of Sweden and Norway. 



14. Stellaria Biflora; Two-flowered Stitchwort. Leaves 

 awl-shaped ; branches two-parted ; petals emarginate; calices 

 striated. Stem a finger's length, filiform, for the most part 

 naked. Perennial. Native of the mountains of Lapland. 



