VOL. II.] PINK FAMILY. 



2. Alsine humifusa (Rottb.) Britton. Low 

 Chickweed. (Fig. 1473.) 



Stellaria humifusa Rottb. Skrift. Vid. Selsk. 10: 447. 

 1770. 



Arenaria thymifolia Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 317. 1814. 



Alsine humifusa Britton, Mem. Torr. Club, 5 : I 5- 

 1804. 



Glabrous, stems branching, spreading and as- 

 cending, i / -3 / long, purplish. Leaves ovate or ob- 

 long, fleshy, 2 // -3 // long, acutish or obtuse, sessile; 

 bracts foliaceous; flowers few or solitary, terminal 

 or axillary, 3 // -5 // broad; sepals ovate-lanceolate, 

 acute or acutish, 2 // long; petals 2-parted, equalling 

 or somewhat exceeding the calyx; capsule ovoid, 

 as long as the sepals; seeds smooth, brown. 



In moist or wet places, Labrador to New Brunswick 

 and Maine, west to Alaska. Also in northern Europe 

 and Asia. Summer. 



21 



3. Alsine uliginosa (Murr.) Britton. Bogj 

 Starwort. Marsh Chickweed. (Fig. 1474.) 



Stellaria uliginosa Murr. Prodr. Goett. 55. 1770. 

 Alsine uliginosa Britton, Mem. Torr. Club, 5: 150. 1894. 



Weak, decumbent or ascending, slender, generally 

 growing in dense masses, stems nearly simple, 6 / -i6 / 

 long. Leaves oblong, 8 // -i2 // long, 2 // ~5 // wide, nar- 

 rowed at the base, the lower slightly petioled and 

 sometimes ciliate, the upper sessile; flowers 3" broad, 

 in lateral sessile cymes, rarely terminal; pedicels slen- 

 der; sepals i // -i^ // long, lanceolate, acute; petals 2- 

 parted, about the length of the calyx and the ovoid 

 pod; seeds rough. 



In cold brooks and springs, Maryland, eastern Pennsyl- 

 vania and vyestern New Jersey, north to New Brunswick. 

 Also in British Columbia and the Northwest Territory, 

 Kurope and Asia. Called also Bog or Marsh Stitchwort. 

 Summer. 



Alsine media L. Common Chick- 

 weed. (Fig. 1475.) 



Alsine media L- Sp. PI. 272. 1753. 

 Stellaria media Cyr. Char. Comm. 36. 



1784. 



Annual, weak, tufted, much branched, decum- 

 bent or ascending, 4 / -i6 / long, glabrous except 

 a line of hairs along the stem and branches, the 

 pubescent sepals and the sometimes ciliate peti- 

 oles. Leaves ovate or oval, 2 // -i^ / long, 

 acute or rarely obtuse, the lower petioled and 

 often cordate, the upper sessile; flowers 2 // ~4 // 

 broad, in terminal leafy cymes or also solitary 

 in the axils; pedicels slender; sepals oblong, 

 mostly acute, longer than the 2-parted petals; 

 stamens 2-10; capsule ovoid, longer than the 

 calyx; seeds rough. 



In waste places, meadows and woods, common 

 throughout North America. Naturalized from Eu- 

 rope, though possibly native northward. Native 

 also of Asia and now almost universally distributed 

 as a weed. Jan.-Dec. 



