ALSINACEAE. 



VOL. II. 



3. Cerastium vulgatum L. Larger Mouse- 

 ear Chickweed. Fig. 1765. 



Cerastium vulgatum L. Sp. PI. Ed. 2, 627. 1762. 

 Cerastium triviale Link, Enum. Hort. Ber. i : 433. 1821. 



Biennial or perennial, viscid-pubescent, tufted, 

 erect or ascending, 6'-i8' long. Lower and basal 

 leaves spatulate-oblong, obtuse ; upper leaves oblong, 

 6"-i2" long, 3"~5" wide, acute or obtuse ; bracts 

 scarious-margined ; inflorescence cymose, loose, the 

 pedicels at length much longer than the calyx ; sepals 

 obtuse or acute, about equalling the 2-cleft petals, 

 2"-3" long; capsule curved upward. 



In fields and woods, nearly throughout our area. 

 Naturalized from Europe. Often a troublesome weed. 

 Occcurs also in the Southern and Western States, and 

 is native in northern Asia. Mouse-ear. May-Sept. 



4. Cerastium longipedunculatum Muhl. 



Nodding Chickweed. Powder-horn. 



Fig. 1766. 



C. longipedunculatum Muhl. Cat. 46. 1813. 

 Cerastium nutans Raf. Prec. Decouv. 36. 1814. 



Annual, bright green, stem weak, reclining or 

 ascending, diffusely branched, 6'-24' long, striate, 

 finely clammy-pubescent to glabrate. Lower and 

 basal leaves spatulate, obtuse, petioled, 4'-i' long, 

 those of the middle part of the stem lanceolate 

 or oblong, i'-2" long, $"-4" wide, the upper 

 similar, acute, sessile, gradually smaller ; inflor- 

 escence loosely cymose ; pedicels slender, in 

 fruit several times the length of the calyx ; flow- 

 ers 2"-3" broad ; sepals lanceolate, obtuse or 

 acutish, about one-half the length of the 2-cleft 

 petals ; pods nodding, 5"-g" long, curved upward, 

 much exceeding the calyx. 



In moist, shaded places, Nova Scotia and Hudson 

 Bay to North Carolina, west to British Columbia, 

 Nevada and northern Mexico. The plant sometimes 

 produces capsules from apparently apetalous flowers. 

 Ascends to 2200 ft. in Pennsylvania. Clammy chick- 

 weed. April-June. 



5. Cerastium brachypodum (Engelm.) 



Robinson. Short-stalked Chickweed. 



Fig. 1767. 



Cerastium nutans var. brachypodum Engelm. ; A. 



Gray, Man. Ed. 5, 94. 1867. 

 Cerastium brachypodium Robinson ; Britton, Mem. 



Torr. Club 5: 150. 1894. 

 Cerastium brachypodium compactum Robinson, Proc. 



Am. Acad. 29: 278. 1894. 



Annual, light green, viscid-pubescent or pu- 

 berulent all over, stems tufted, erect, 3'-io' tall. 

 Lower and basal leaves oblanceolate or spatulate, 

 obtuse or subacute at the apex, 3"-i2" long, 

 narrowed into short petioles, the upper linear or 

 linear-oblong, acute, sessile, sometimes erect- 

 appressed ; cymes terminal, few-several-flowered; 

 flowers about 2" broad ; fruiting pedicels, or some 

 of them, deflexed, not more than twice as long as 

 the calyx ; capsules straight or slightly curved 

 upward, 2-3 times as long as the calyx. 



In dry soil, southwestern Illinois and Missouri to 

 Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, Oregon, Texas, 

 Arizona and Mexico. March-July. 



