100 CARYOPHYLLACEiE. Cerastium. 



variable in pubescence, sometimes nearly smooth except on the margins. Cyme 7 - 15- 

 flowered. Flowers larger than in C. arvense. Petals cleft nearly one-third of their length. 

 Seed muricate. 



Rocky places ; rare. May. 



5. Cerastium nutans, Raf. Nodding Chickweed. 



Viscid and pubescent ; stems erect, weak, branching from the base, sulcate-striate ; inter- 

 nodes finally much longer than the leaves ; leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate , the lower- 

 most oblong-spatulate, acute ; cymes much elongated, divaricate, many-flowered, with long 

 filiform pedicels ; petals oblong, bifid at the apex, scarcely twice as long as the obtuse sepals ; 

 capsule cylindrical, nearly three times the length of the calyx. — Raf. prec. des decouv. p. 36 ; 

 Torr.fl. 1. p. 450 (excl. the syn. of C. pubescens) ; DC- prodr. 1. p. 420 ; Hooh.fl. Bor.-Am. 

 1. p. 104 ; Darlingt.jl. Cest.p. 280 ; Ton: 4- Gr.fl. N. A?n.. l.p. 189. C. longepeduncu- 

 latum, Muhl. cat. p. 47. C. glutinosum, Nutt. gen. I. p. 291. 



Annual. Plant pale yellowish-green, very viscid, and covered with flocculent woolly pu- 

 bescence. Stems 8-12 inches high. Leaves 8-12 lines or more in length. Petals cuneate 

 at the base, slightly bifid. Capsule somewhat curved. Seeds muricate. 



Low moist and rather shady places, particularly along rivulets. May. 



Tribe II. SILENE^. DC. 



Sepals united into a cylindrical tube. Petals icnguiculate, inserted with the stamens upon 

 the stipe of the ovary. Capsule one-celled {sometimes 3 - 5-celled at the base). 



CONSPECTUS OF THE GENERA. 

 5. Calyx 5-toothe(l, without scales at the base ; petals 5 ; stamens lO. 



7. SiLENE. Styles 3. Capsule 3-ceUed at the base. 



8. Lychnis. Styles 5. Capsule one-celled, or 5-celled at the base. 



9. SiPONARiA. Styles 2. Capsule one-celled throughout. 



7. SILENE. Linn.; Otth in DC. prodr. I. p. 367. CATCHFLY. 



[ From the Greek, sialon, saliva ; in allusion to the viscid secretion on the stems.] 



Calyx tubular, without scales at the base, 5-toothed. Petals 5, with slender claws, which 

 usually are crowned with scales at the summit ; limb 2- or many-cleft, sometimes entire. 

 Stamens 10. Styles 3. Capsule 3-celled at the base, opening at the top by 6 teeth. 



^ 1. Behenantha. Flowers solitary, or in paniculate cymes : calyx vesicular, inflated. 



1. SiLENE STELLATA, AU. (Plate XVI.) Four-Uwoed Campion. 



Stem erect, branching, minutely pubescent ; leaves whorled in fours, ovate-lanceolate, gra- 



