308 THE KINDS OF PLANTS 



3. LYCHNIS. Lychnis. Cockle. 



Annual or perennial, with styles usually 5, and pod opening by 5 or more 

 teeth: calyx 5-toothed and 10- or more-nerved, naked at the base: stamens 10. 

 L. Githago, Scop, (or Agrostemma Githago, Linn.). Corn cockle, 

 because it is a common weed in wheat fields (wheat is known as corn in 

 Europe), its seeds not being readily separated from wheat because of their 

 similar size and its seasons corresponding with those of wheat: annual, 2-3 

 ft., hairy: flowers purple-red and showy, on very long stalks, the petals 

 crowned and the calyx-lobes long and leafy: leaves very narrow. Europe. 



L. Coronaria, Desv. Dusty miller. Mullein pink. 

 Biennial or perennial, white-woolly all over: leaves ob- 

 long: flowers rose-crimson, showy, Europe. Old gar- 

 dens and along roads. 



4. STELLAEIA. Chickweed. 



Small, weak herbs with sepals 4-5, petals of equal 

 number and deeply cleft or sometimes wanting: sta- 

 mens 10 or less: styles usually 3: pod opening by twice 

 _J cS^ as many valves as there are styles. 



S. media, Smith. Common chickweed. Fig. 457. 



457. Stellaria media. ,..,,, , , . ,,. , , 



Little prostrate annual, making a mat m cultivated 



grounds, with ovate or oblong leaves mostly on hairy petioles : flowers soli- 

 tary, minute, white, the 2-parted petals shorter than the calyx, the peduncle 

 elongating in fruit. Europe; very common. Blooms in cold weather. 



5. CEKASTIUM. Mouse-ear Chickweed. 



Differs from Stellaria chiefly in having 5 styles and pod splitting into 

 twice as many valves. The two following gray herbs grow in lawns. From 

 Europe. 



C. viscosum, Linn. Annual, about 6 in. high: leaves ovate to spatulate: 

 flowers small, in close clusters, the petals shorter than the calyx, and the 

 pedicels not longer than the acute sepals. 



C. vulgatum, Linn. Perennial and larger, clammy-hairy: leaves oblong: 

 pedicels longer than the other obtuse sepals, the flowers large. 



XL RANUNCULACE^E. Crowfoot or Buttercup Family. 



Mostly herbs, with various habits and foliage : parts of the 

 flower typically all present, free and distinct, but there are some 

 apetalous and dioecious species: stamens many: pistils many or 

 few, in the former case becoming akenes and in the latter usually 

 becoming follicles. Upwards of 30 genera and 1,000 to 1,200 species. 

 Characteristic plants are buttercup, anemone, meadow-rue, marsh- 

 marigold or cowslip, adonis, clematis, larkspur, aconite, columbine, 

 baneberry, peony. Known from Rosacese by the hypogynous flowers. 



