78 PINK FAMILY. 



7. STELLARIA, CHICK WEED STAR WORT. (Lain: stella, a 

 star.) Flowers spring and summer. (Lessons, Figs. 345, 3\, 432.) 



* Stems weak and spreading, matked with pubescent lines ; leaves broad. 



S. media, Smith. COMMON CHICKWEED. Leaves ovate or oblong, the 

 lower on hairy petioles ; petals shorter than the calyx, 2-parted ; stamens 

 3-10. (I) In all damp cult, grounds. 



S. piibera, Michx. GREAT C. Leaves oblong or oval, sessile ; petals 

 longer than the calyx, 2-cleft. 2/ Shaded rocks, Penn., S. , and W. 



* * Wholly glabrous ; stems erect or spreading ; leaves narrow, sessile. 2Z 



H. Petals 2-parted, equaling or surpassing calyx ; bracts scale-like. 



S. longifdlia, Muhl. LONG-LEAVED S. or STITCHWORT. Stem weak 

 with rough angles, 8'-18' high ; leaves linear, widely spreading, acutish at 

 both ends ; flowers numerous on slender, spreading pedicels, in a very loose 

 cyme ; petals 2-parted, longer than the calyx ; seeds smooth. Common 

 in damp grassy places N. 



S. Idngipes, Goldie. Very smooth ; leaves ascending, lanceolate, or 

 linear-lanceolate, broadest at base ; flowers on long, strictly erect pedicels ; 

 seeds smooth. Rare in N. U. S. ; commoner in Canada. 



S. graminea, Linn. Like the last ; leaves broadest above the base ; 

 pedicels widely spreading ; seeds wrinkled. Nat. from Eu. A yellow- 

 leaved variety is sometimes used in carpet bedding. 



t- <- Petals shorter than calyx or 0; bracts leaf-like. 



S. borealis, Bigel. NORTHERN S. Stem 3'-10' high, forking repeatedly 

 and with flowers in the forks of the leafy branches ; leaves broadly lan- 

 ceolate or narrow-oblong. Wet grassy 'places N. 



B. CERASTIUM, MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED. (Greek: horn; 

 referring to the pod of some species. Popular name from the shape 

 and soft hairiness of the leaves of the common species.) 



* Flowers inconspicuous, the deeply 2-cleft petals being shorter or little 



longer than the calyx ; flowering all summer, white. 



C. viscbsum, Linn. An insignificant soft-hairy weed ; stems erect, 

 4''-9' high, slightly clammy ; leaves ovate or obovate, small ; pedicels in 

 fruit and petals shorter than the acute sepals. E. and S.; not common. 



C. vulgatum, Linn. LARGER M. Stems spreading, 6'-15' long, clammy- 

 hairy ; leaves oblong ; pedicels becoming longer than the calyx ; petals as 

 long as the obtuse sepals. (2) 21 Common in grassy places. 



C. ntitans, Raf. Clammy-pubescent, erect, 6'-18' high, becoming 

 very loosely many-flowered and branched ; leaves oblong-lanceolate ; 

 petals longer than calyx ; pods thrice the length of the calyx, nodding on 

 the slender flower-stalk .and curved upwards. In moist grounds. (D 



* * Flowers conspicuous, the snowy white petals 2 or S times the length of 



the calyx; plants forming matted tufts. 2/ 



C. arv^nse, Linn. FIELD M. Downy but green ; leaves linear to 

 narrowly lanceolate ; flowering stems 4'-6' high, few-flowered ; petals 

 notched at the end ; pod scarcely longer than calyx. Dry fields, etc. 



The var. oblongifdlium is larger, with oblong leaves and pod twice as 

 long as calyx. Var. vill6sum is densely villous. European forms are 

 sometimes grown for ornament. 



C. tomentdsum, Linn. COTTONY M. Shoots spreading, crowded with 

 oblong or linear white-woolly leaves making dense silvery mats ; flower- 

 buds and pedicels densely woolly ; petals deeply 2-cleft. Cult, from Eu. 



