HARPER'S GUIDE TO WILD FLOWERS 



ton, Long Island, looking brightly out of arid sand where one 

 would think nothing could grow. New York, Xew Jersey, 

 and southward. 



Broad-leaved Sandwort 

 A. lateriflora.. — Sepals, petals, 5 or 4. Stamens, 10. Pod, 

 3-celled. Leaves, blunt, oval or oblong, sessile, about 1 inch 

 long. May and June. 



Small, star-like flowers, on low, erect, downy branches, 

 2 to 4 on the peduncles. In sand, near the coast. 



Sea-beach Sandwort 

 A. peplotdes. — A fleshy plant, growing from a rootstock. 

 Branches 6 to 10 inches high, ascending, bear flowers sessile and 

 terminal in the axils of the thick, partly clasping, ovate leaves. 

 June. 



In sand, near the coast. Maine to New Jersey and north- 

 ward. 



Thyme-leaved Sandwort 



A. serpyllifblia. — Parts of the flower like the foregoing. The 

 pod, when ripe, splits first into 3, then into 6 pieces. Leaves, 

 opposite, small, pointed. Flowers in leafy cymes. June to Au- 

 gust. 



Sandy soil. A common little dooryard plant, much 

 branched and leafy. 



Common Chickweed 



Stellkria media. — Family, Pink. (Stella, a star, from the star- 

 shaped flowers.) Sepals, petals, like most of this Family, 4 or 5. 

 Stamens, twice as many. Styles, 3. Petals shorter than sepals, 

 divided so as to look like S or 10. Leaves, ovate or oblong, 

 petioled, with hairy lines. Weak - stemmed and prostrate. 

 Spring and summer. A weed. 



It prefers shady, damp ground, but will grow almost any- 

 where in gardens. The little round pods, as well as leaves, 

 make food for caged birds. 



Mr. W. H. Gibson has found the chickweed blossoming 

 under snow in midwinter. He says: "It must indeed be a 

 cold day when " 'The chickweed's eye is closed.' You 

 are always sure of it. Even in midwinter, if you know its 

 haunt in some sunny nook, you may dig away the snow 

 and pick its white, starry blossoms, larger and fuller now 

 than those of summer." 



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