CEBASTIUM.] CARYOPHYLLE^. 61 



8. C. tri'gynum, Villars ; stem with alternating hairy lines, leaves 

 small narrow oblong-lanceolate glabrous, cymes 1-3-fld., bracts glandular 

 or glabrous, margins broadly membranous. Siella'ria cerastoi'des, L. 

 Alpine and subalpine rills, rare^ Mid. Scotland and Ireland ; ascends to 3,700 

 ft. ; fl. July-Aug. A smaller and more delicate species than the two pre- 

 ceding alpine ones, nearly glabrous. Leaves J-| in., distant, obtuse, often 

 recurved. Flowers ^ in. diam., homogamous ; pedicels very slender. Sepals 

 linear-oblong, spreading, 1-nerved. Petals deeply 2-fid. Styles usually 3. 

 Capsule longer than the sepals. DISTRIB. Alps of Europe, N. and W. 

 Asia to the Himalaya^ Arctic regions. Intermediate between Cerastium 

 and Stellaria. 



7. STELDA'RIA, L. STITCHWORT. 



Slender, usually glabrous herbs. Leaves Harrow or broad. Flowers in 

 dichotomous cymes, white, small, honeyed, proterandrous. Sepals &, 

 rarely 4. Petals 5, rarely 4, 2-fid or 2-partite. Stamens 10 (rarely 8 5 or 

 3) more or less perigynous, rising and dehiscing in 2 sets. Disk annular 

 elongating, or of 5 inters taminal glands. Ovary 1-celled ; styles 3, or 5 

 and opposite the petals, ovules many. Capsule short, splitting below the 

 middle into as many simple or 2-fid valves as there are styles. Seeds 

 compressed^ granulate ; embryo annular. DISTRIB. All temp, and cold 

 regions ; species 70. ETYM. Stella, from the star-like flowers. 



SECTION 1. Mala'chium, Fries (gen.). Sepals free to the base. Styles 

 5, rarely 3. Capsule with 5 2-fid valves. 



1. S* aquat'ica, Scopoli ; steins diffuse decumbent angular slightly 

 glandular above, leaves ovate^cordate. Cerastium aquaticum, L. 



Borders of ditches, streams, &c., from Yorksouthd, j fl. July-Aug. Perennial. 

 Stem 1-3 ft., brittle, branched, trailing over bushes. Leaves 1-1J in., mem- 

 branous, lower shortly petioled, acute, sometimes ciliate. Flowers % in. 

 diam., axillary. Sepals lanceolate, enlarged in fruit. Petals white, lobes 

 diverging. ^ Capsule 1 in., ovoid, a little longer than the sepals ; pedicel 

 deflexed, tip curved. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, N. and W. Asia. 



SECTION 2. Stella'ria proper. Sepals free to the base. Stamens sub- 

 perigynous. Styles 3. Capsule with 6 entire valves. 



2. S. nem'orum, L. ; stem ascending glabrous or hairy all round, leaves 

 ovate acuminate, lower subcordate long-petioled, upper cauline sessile, 

 cymes lax, petals longer than the sepals. 



Shady places from Dumbarton and Moray to S. "Wales and Hereford ; 

 ascends to 2,700 ft. ; Channel Islands ? fl. May- Aug. Glabrous or 

 pilose with jointed hairs and slightly glandular. Stem 1-2 ft., stout, terete, 

 brittle, shining. Leaves 1-3 in., membranous, ciliate. Flowers ^-f in. diam. ; 

 pedicels very slender. Sepals lanceolate, obtuse, margins scarlous. Capsi.de 

 ovoid, as long as the sepals ; pedicels spreading or reflexed. DISTRIB. 

 Europe (Arctic), excl. Greece and Turkey. 



