154 A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



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458. Stitch WORT. Alsine longifolia. (Stellaria longifolia.) 

 (Alsinaceae.) Superficially much like No. 457, but the 5 

 petals so deeply cut as to appear to be 10, and the flower 

 cluster more open and lax. In moist places. Newfoundland 

 to Kentucky, and westward. June. A related species, A. 

 graminea, has the petals not so deeply notched and flowers 

 about y^ in. wide. It grows in fields and waste places. New- 

 foundland and Ontario to Maryland. 



459. Chickweed. Alsine media. (Stellaria media.) (Alsin- 

 aceae.) One of the commonest European weeds in America, 

 found not only in waste places and cultivated land, but in 

 woods. Almost prostrate. Leaves oval, stalked, the stalks and 

 stem with a line of hairs along them. Flowers scarcely ^ 

 in. wide, white, the 5 petals deeply notched. March-October, 



Fig. 459. 



460. Bouncing Bet. Saponaria officinalis. (Caryophylla- 

 ceae.) A common European weed of waste places, growing 

 about I ft. tall. Leaves 2-3 in. long, oval, about i in. wide. 

 Flowers white or pinkish, about i in. across, several in a 

 terminal cluster, the 5 petals very slightly notched. Fig. 460. 

 Nearly throughout North America. August. See No. 420. 



461. Sandwort. Moehringia lateriflora. (Arenaria lateri- 

 flora.) (Alsinaceae.) A low erect herb, usually not over 9 

 in. high. Leaves stalkless, oval-oblong, about % in. long, 

 both the margins and principal veins finely hairy. Flowers, 

 white, few, in an open lax cluster, scarcely 3^ in. across, the 



