DECANDRIA TRIGYNIA. 2S^ 



Very distinct from S. Catesboei, but requires further exa- 

 mination. Flowers pale red and of uncommon magnitude. 

 8. antirrhina. 9. nocturna. 10- acaiilzs. 



A genus comprehending nearly 100 species, extending 

 throuj^hout Kurope and passing* into Barbary, Greece, the 

 Levant, and vSiberia; no part of the southern hemisphere 

 appears to afford any species except the Cape of Good 

 Hope. 



313. STELLARIA. L. (Stitrhwort.) 



Calix 5 -leaved, spreadin,^. Petals 5, bipar- 

 tite. Capsule ovate, 1-celled, many-seeded, 

 summit 6-toothed. 



Flowers dichotomal and terminal, white; stems furnish- 

 ed with an elastic centre. 



Species. 1. ^V. />u6era. Ob s. Perennial. Stem diffuse 

 and decumbent, dichotomous, having a pubescent line on 

 one or two sides. Leaves sessile, ovate-oblong, acute, 

 somewhat undulated, conspicuously pubescent on the 

 margin and under side of the mid-rib towards the base, 

 from 10 to 15 lines long and about 5 broad. Flowers al- 

 ways dichotomal (or in the forks of the branches;) pedun- 

 cle pubescent, deflected. Calix pubescent, segments 

 lanceolate-ovate, somewhat acute, with inflated nerves 

 which are often abruptly dichotomous. Petals deeply bi- 

 fid, longer than the calix, stellately expanding, large, very 

 obtuse at the base and closely sessile, lobes linear -oblong. 

 Capsule roundish, ovate The whole plant has much the 

 aspect of iS". nemornm. 2. media. (Chickweed.) Introdu- 

 ced. 3. graminea. 4. uliginosa. Smith. Flor. Brit. These 

 2 last bptrcies are native, and very common. 



5. * elongata. S:em diffuse and procumbent, pubes- 

 cent; leaves oblong-limceolate mucronulat°; peduncles la- 

 teral, arid solidary, very long; flowers apetalous. Had. 

 In Carolina and Georgia. S. longipedimcidata. Dr. Bald- 

 wyn. Obs. Stem extremely long and intricately branch- 

 ed, uniformly pubescent as well as the peduncles; leaves 

 about 2 hues wide and 8 or 10 long, smooth, attenuated 

 below, terminated by callous points. Pi;duncles solitary, 

 from 10 to 15 hues. Calix acute, membriuaceously mar- 

 gined. Petals none. Styles 3. Capsule 1-celled, sum- 

 mit 6- oothed, so that it is not a species of J/icropeialon 

 but a SzeiJaria which renders that genus unnatural 

 An Ei^rope^ genus- 



CO 



