22 Mr. C. C. Babington on the Cerastium pumilum of Curtis. 



C. pumilum (Curt.) ; foliis oblongis, bracteis inferioribus herbaceis 

 superioribus margine anyustissirne scariosis, sepalis laiiceolatis 

 acutis margiaibus anguste scariosis, pedicellis fructiferis calyce 

 subduplo longioribus paten tibus sed demum erectis apice recur- 

 vatis, capsula sursum curvata. 



C. pumilum, Curt. ! Fl. Land. ii. t. 92 (fasc. vi. t. 30) (1778). Bab. 

 in Mag. Zool. and Bat. ii. 318 ; Man. Br. Bat. ed. 4. 55 (non 

 Gren. et Godr. nee Bar.). 



C. glutinosum, i^n>« ! Fl. Hall. 7S (\8\7) ; iVow. ed. 1.51 (1817), 

 ed. 2. 132 ; Herb. Norm. iv. 54. Koch, Sijn. ed. 2. 133. Gren. 

 et Godr. Fl. Fr. i. 268. 



C. obscurum, Chaiib. in St. Amuns Fl. Agen. 180. t. 4 (1821). 

 Bor. Fl. du Centre de France, ed. 3. 111. 



C. litigiosum, De Lens in Lois. Fl. Gall. ii. 323 (1828). Bor. l.c.Ul. 



Root small, annual. Stem branching from the crown of the 

 root ; central stem erect, often short, sometimes in weakly plants 

 solitary; lateral stems prostrate or ascending; lower pax't of all 

 the stems purplish, usually unbranched. Leaves oblong, sessile, 

 rather acute ; radical leaves naiTOwed into a long haft, blunt. 

 Panicles terminal, dichotomous with a flower in each fork. 

 Lower bracts leaflike ; upper ones smaller, and having a very 

 narrow membi'anous margin (which is often invisible without a 

 strongly magnifying glass). Peduncles short, lengthening as the 

 fruit ripens so as to be about twice as long as it, curved at the 

 top but becoming nearly, although not quite, straight when the 

 fruit is ripe, declining from their base but ultimately erect. 

 Flowers slightly open, 4-5-merous. Sepals lanceolate, the edges 

 narrowly membranous in their upper half. Petals exceeding 

 the calyx, although sometimes only in a slight degree, or even 

 occasionally falling short of it, bifid, not ribbed. Stamens 

 5-10 ? Capsules a little exceeding the calyx, usually about half 

 as long again as it, slightly curved upwards. Seeds small, red- 

 dish, nearly round, covered with darker tubercles throughout. 

 Stem, leaves, and sepals with the exception of their membranous 

 edge, covered with viscid gland-tipped hairs. 



Hub. Near Croydon, Surrey, Mr. Dickson (1778). Lizard 

 Point, Cornwall, C. C. B. (1839). St. Vincent's Rocks near 

 Bristol, Messrs. H. 0. Stephens and G.H. K. Thwaites {184>2). 

 Torquay, Devon, Mr. F. Townsend (] 858). Bembridge Down, 

 Isle of Wight, Mr. A. G. More (1858). 



The branches of this plant are usually not more than three or 

 four inches in length, often shorter, and are prostrate through- 

 out most of their length ; the central stem is frequently very 

 short, always probably shorter than the branches. Sometimes 

 there are no branches, and then the whole plant consists of a 

 simple upright stem ending in a forked panicle. 



(I 



