CLASS X. ORDER III.] CHERLERIA. 637 



GENUS XIII. CHERLE'RIA.— Linn. Cyphel. 



Nat. OrJ. CAuyoPHYL'LE^. Juss. 



Gen. Char. Calyx of five pieces. Petals five, minute, notched, 



sometimes wanVingf. Stamens ten, the outer ones opposite, the 



calyx scpfments with an emarginate gland at the base. Styles 



three. Capsule three valved, of one cell, many seeded. — Named 



in honour oi John Henry Chcrler, a friend and coadjutor of John 



Bauhin, in the Prodromus of his History General PI. in 1619. 



1. C. sedoi'des, Linn. (Fig. 725.) Mossy Cyphel, or Dwarf 



Cherleria. Stem much branched, erect, crowded with linear obtuse 



opposite single ribbed leaves ; calyx segments ovate oblong, three 



ribbed ; capsule as long again as the calyx. 



English Botany, t. 1212.— English Flora, vol. ii. p. 313.— Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 211. -Lindley, Synopsis, p. 48. 



Root fibrous, often very long, running into the crevices of the rocks. 

 Stem from one to two inches long, much branched, with short much 

 crowded branches, forming dense moss-like tufts, greatly crowded with 

 leaves, which are opposite, united at the base into a short tube, narrow, 

 linear, obtuse, short, channeled above, rounded at the back with a 

 sloutish mid-rib, and rarely when dry with two lateral slender veins, 

 smooth, and somewhat fleshy, the margins more or less ciliated with 

 short glandular hairs. Flowers small, inconspicuous, terminal, and 

 from the axis of the upper leaves few, of a greenish colour, on short 

 pedicles, bearing about the middle a pair of small bracteas. Calyx of 

 five ovate oblong segments, three ribbed, with a narrow membranous 

 margin, and often ciliated with short glandular hairs. Stamens ten, 

 with short filaments, the outer ones opposite, the calyx segments having 

 before them a notched gland. Petals very small, notched, mostly 

 absent. Styles short. Stigmas spreading. Capsule cylindrical, as 

 long again as the calyx, opening with three obtuse valves. Seeds 

 numerous, small, smooth, brown, compressed, kidney-shaped. 



Habitat. — Summit of the Highland mountains, especially those of 

 the Breadalbane range. 



Perennial ; flowering from June to August. 



A remarkably close tufted plant, forming dense patches, of a cheerful 

 green. It is nearly allied to Alsine, from which it is distinguished by 

 the position of its notched glands, and the notched, small, or absent 

 petals. Its habit is that of A. verna and rubella. 



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