172 



BRITISH FLORA 



crowded, narrow, linear to lance-shaped, smooth, 

 fringed with hairs at the base. The flowers are 

 small, in compact cymes, slender, rosy, the petals 

 2-lobed, hardly crowned, with 2 small tubercles, 

 the flowers shortly-stalked. The calyx has faint 

 nerves and rounded teeth. The carpophore is 

 half the length of the capsule. The capsule is 

 5-celled when young, egg-shaped, the stalk half 

 as long. The seeds are kidney-shaped, very 

 small, with blunt tubercles. The plant is 3-8 in. 

 high, flowering in June and July, and is a herb- 

 aceous perennial. 



Umbellate Chickweed (Holosteum umbellatum, 

 L. ). The habitat of this plant is walls and thatched 

 roofs, dry places. The plant has more or less the 

 rosette habit. The stems are slender, branched 

 below. The radical leaves are stalked, elliptic to 

 oblong, acute. The stem-leaves are few, stalk- 

 less, ovate, linear. The flowers are white or 

 pinkish -white, 3-8 in an umbel, few, erect, on 

 downy sticky stalks. The ultimate flower-stalks 

 are erect in flower, turned back in fruit, then erect 

 again. The bracts are small, membranous. The 

 sepals are white, with membranous margins, 

 blunt. The petals are a little longer than the 

 sepals. There are frequently 3 stamens and 3 

 styles. The capsule is twice as long as the sepals. 

 The plant is 1-5 in. high, flowering in April and 

 May, and is a herbaceous annual. 



Alpine Mouse Ear (Cerastium alpinum, L. = C. 

 lanatum, Lam.). The habitat of this plant is 

 alpine and subalpine rocks. The habit is pros- 

 trate or ascending. The plant is hairy all round. 

 The stems are branched below, then simple, long. 

 The plant has the habit of C. arvense, but broader 

 leaves, fewer, larger flowers, and a capsule nearly 

 twice as long as the sepals, on a spreading flower- 

 stalk. The leaves are ovate-oblong, lance-shaped, 

 blunt, downy, covered with long, simple, white 

 hairs. The flowers are white, large, few, in a 

 forked panicle, not so long as the stalks. The 

 sepals are blunt, with membranous margins. The 

 bracts are herbaceous, with more or less mem- 

 branous margins. The fruit-stalks are obliquely 

 spreading. The capsule is nearly cylindrical, 

 curved at the end. The seeds are tubercled, small. 

 The plant is 3-6 in. high, flowering from June to 

 August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Arctic Mouse-ear Chickweed (Cerastium nigre- 

 scens, Edm.). This plant is very rare, occurring 

 in Unst. The stem is tufted, prostrate, then as- 

 cending. The leaves are inversely ovate, densely 

 hairy, dark-green, tinged with purplish-black 

 (hence nigrescens). The flowers are white, large. 

 The seeds are wrinkled. The plant is 3-5 in. 

 high, flowering from June to August, and is a 

 herbaceous perennial. 



Mountain Mouse -ear Chickweed (Cerastium 

 cerastoides, Britton = C. trigynum, Vill. = C. lap- 

 ponicum, Cr.). The habitat of this plant is lofty 

 alpine and subalpine rills, wet gravelly spots, as 

 Ben Lawers, Ben Nevis. The habit is prostrate. 

 The plant is almost devoid of hairs. The stem is 

 weak, has alternate hairy lines, and is slender, 

 leafless, branched below. The leaves are small, 



oblong, lance-shaped, elliptic, distant, blunt, light- 

 green more or less on one side, and sickle-like. 

 The flowers are white, in cymes of 1-3, terminal. 

 The bracts are herbaceous, glandular or smooth, 

 with a broad membranous margin. The sepals 

 are linear to oblong, spreading, i-nerved. The 

 corolla is large, with petals 2-fid. The stalks 

 are downy. There are 3 styles. The capsule 

 exceeds the sepals. The plant is 3-6 in. high, 

 and flowers in July and August, being a herb- 

 aceous perennial. 



Mountain Sandwort (Arenaria hirta, Wormsk. 

 = A. rubella, Hiern = A. sulcata, Schlecht.). The 

 habitat of this plant is rocky tops of Scottish 

 mountains, as the Breadalbane range, Ben Hope, 

 &c. The plant has the rosette or cushion habit. 

 It is looser in habit than the last, yellowish-green 

 or purple. The stems are densely-tufted, many, 

 with short hairs (hence hirta). The leaves are limp, 

 awl-like, crowded, blunt, 3-veined. The flowers are 

 white, solitary. The flowering shoots are downy, 

 terminal, with three pairs of leaves. The sepals 

 are acute, 3-veined, ovate, lance-shaped, with a 

 membranous margin. The flower-stalks are i- 

 flowered. The petals are inversely ovate, lance- 

 shaped, narrow below, shorter than the calyx. 

 There are 4 styles. The valves of the capsules 

 are 3-5. The seeds are rounded. The plant is 

 1-2 in. high, flowering in July and August, and 

 is a herbaceous perennial. 



Bog Sandwort (Arenaria uliginosa, Schleicher 

 = Minuartia stricta, Hiern). Bog Sandwort 

 grows on the banks of rills and calcareous bogs. 

 The habit is prostrate or ascending. The stems 

 are loosely tufted, and are ascending, slender, 

 smooth. The leaves are slender, thread-like, with- 

 out veins, half-round in section, blunt. The flowers 

 are white, 1-3, on slender flower-stalks, the sepals 

 ovate to lance-shaped, acute, when dry 3-veined, 

 the petals oblong, oval, narrowed below, as long 

 as the calyx. The capsule is ovoid. The seeds 

 are kidney-shaped, rough on the disk. The plant 

 is 2-3 in. high, flowering in June and July, and is 

 a herbaceous annual. 



Ciliate Sandwort (Arenaria cilia fa, L.). The 

 habitat of this plant is limestone cliffs, bare cal- 

 careous spots. The habit is prostrate or ascend- 

 ing. The stems are matted, numerous, much- 

 branched, rough, long, downy, with short hairs 

 turned down, when dry angular. The leaves are 

 oblong to spoon-shaped, fringed with hairs (hence 

 ciliata), blunt, i-nerved. The flowers are white, 

 solitary as a rule, with leaf -like bracts. The 

 sepals are oblong to lance-shaped, more or less 

 acute, with membranous borders, with 3 hairy 

 ribs, shorter than the petals. The petals are 

 spoon-shaped, ovate, slightly clawed. The capsule 

 is ovoid, as long as the sepals. The seeds have 

 no aril. The plant is 1-6 in. high or long, flower- 

 ing from May to August, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Arctic Sandwort (Arenaria norvegica, Gunn). 

 The habitat of this plant is loose barren gravel on 

 serpentine hills, stony places. The plant is almost 

 smooth, with denser, shorter leaves than the last. 



