CARYOPHYLLACE^E. (PINK FAMILY.) 59 



ovoid, opening by twice as many valves as styles, several- man y-seeded. Seeds 

 naked. Flowers (white) terminal, or appearing lateral by the prolongation of 

 the stem from the upper axils. (Name from stella, a star, in allusion to the 

 star -shaped flowers.) 



* Stamens usually fewer than 10 : leaves broad. 



1. S. MEDIA, Smith. (COMMON CHICKWEED.) Stems spreading, marked 

 with an alternate pubescent line ; leaves ovate, the lower on hairy petioles ; petals 

 2-parted, shorter than the calyx; stamens 3-10. Fields and around 

 dwellings, everywhere. (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. S ]>ubcra, Michx. (GREAT CHICKWEED.)" Stems spreading, 

 marked with 2 opposite hairy lines ; leaves all sessile, oblong or ovate (2' long) ; 

 petals deeply 2-cleft, longer than the calyx. 1J. Shaded rocks, Penn. to Kentucky, 

 and southward. May. 



* * Stamens mostly 10 : manifestly perigynous : perennial : leaves narrow, sessile : 



plants glabrous throughout. 

 t- Scaly-bracted : petals 2-parted, equalling or surpassing the calyx. 



3. S. longifdlia, Muhl. (STITCHWORT.) Stem branching above; 

 weak, often with rough angles (8' -18' high) ; leaves linear, acutish at both ends, 

 spreading ; cymes naked and at length lateral, peduncled, many-flowered, the slen- 

 der pedicels spreading ; petals 2-parted, soon longer than the calyx ; seeds smooth. 

 Grassy places, common, especially northward. June, July. (Eu.) 



4. S. 16ngipes, Goldie. (LONG-STALKED STITCHWORT.) Shining or 

 somewhat glaucous, very smooth ; leaves ascending, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 

 acute, broadest at the base, rather rigid ; cyme terminal, few-flowered, the long 

 pedicels strictly erect; petals longer than the calyx; seeds smooth. Maine to 

 Wisconsin, rare : common farther north. (Eu.) 



5. S. llligiildsa, Murr. (SWAMP STITCHWORT.) Stems weak, de- 

 cumbent or diffuse, at length prolonged, leaving the naked and usually sessile 

 cymes lateral ; leaves lanceolate or oblong, veiny ; petals and ripe pods as long as the 

 calyx; seeds roughened. (S. aquatica, Pollich, frc.) Swamps and rills, Phila- 

 delphia and Westchester, Pennsylvania (Darlington, &c.) ; and northward in 

 British America. (Eu.) 



t- -i- Leafy-bracted, the flowers in the forks of the stem or of leafy branches, even 

 the latest with foliaceous bracts ; petals 2-parted, small, or often none ; styles 3 -4 ; 

 pod longer than the calyx. 



6. S. crassifdlia, Ehrhart. Stems diffuse or erect, flaccid ; leaves rather 

 fleshy, varying from linear-lanceolate to oblong ; petals longer than the calyx, or 

 wanting; seeds rugose-roughened. An apetalous 4-6-androus state is Sagina 

 fontinalis, Short fr Peter. Cliffs of Kentucky River and Elkhorn Creek, form- 

 ing broad mats in springy places, Short. April,. May. Also in British Amer- 

 ica. (Eu.) 



7. S. borealis, Bigelow. (NORTHERN STITCHWORT.) Stems erect or 

 spreading, flaccid, many times forked, at length resolved into a leafy cyme ; 

 leaves varying from broadly lanceolate to ovate-oblong ; petals 2-5, shorter than 

 ike calyx, or oftener none ; sepals acute ; styles usually 4 ; seeth smooth. Shaded 



