240 TETRANDRIA— TETRAGYNIA. Moenchia. 



branous edge. Petah abortive^ or entirely wanting. Capsule 

 rather longer than the calyx. 

 Mr. Don found sometimes 8 stamens. Professor Hooker says the 

 petals are entirely wanting, nor can I find any. The edges of 

 the calyx are occasionally violet-coloured. 



3. S. apetala. Annual Small-flowered Pearl-wort. 



Stems nearly upright, hairy. Leaves bristle-pointed, fringed. 

 Petals obsolete, or wanting. 



S. apetala. Linn. Mant. 2. 559. WiUd. Sp. PI. v.\.719. Fl. Br. 



199. Engl. Bot. v. 13. t. 881. Curt. Land. fasc. 5. t. 14. Dicks. 



H. Sice. fasc. 3. 6. Hook. Scot. 60, Don H. Br. 156. Arduin. 



Spec. 2. 22. t. 8./. 1 ; bad. 

 Saxifraga anglica alsinefolia annua. Raii Syn. 345. 



In dry, sandy, barren ground j on walls and waste places ; very 

 common. 



Annual. — May, June. 



The whole plant is more slender than either of the foregoing. Stems 

 numerous, partly reclining but not taking root, more or less 

 hairy, or rough with prominent scattered points. Leaves sha^ied 

 like those of .S'. procumbens, but fringed at the edges, each tipped 

 with a very distinct bristle ; and they are not unfrequently hairy 

 all over. Flower-stalks long and slender, and likewise hairy. 

 Flowers not perhaps so truly apetalous as the last, though often 

 perfectly so. The petals, if present, are white, not half the 

 length of the calyx, either entire or notched. Caps, pale, about 

 twice as long as the calyx. Seeds bordered with a black line ; 

 but this, as in Spergula and Arenaria, is variable. 



84. MCENCHIA. Moenchia. 



Ehrh. Beitr.fasc. 2. 1 77. Hook. Scot. 48. 

 Nat. Ord. see 7t. 83. 



Cal. inferior, of 4 elliptic-lanceolate, concave, equal, con- 

 verging, pointed, membranous-edged, permanent leaves. 

 Pet. 4, lanceolate, undivided, entire, upright, shorter than 

 the calyx, withering. Filam. thread-shaped, ascending, 

 shorter tlian the petals. Anth. of 2 roundish lobes. Germ. 

 superior, ovate. Styles terminal, very short, spreading. 

 Stigm. obtuse, downy. Caps, the length of the calyx, 

 cylindrical, slightly ovate, of 1 cell, and 1 valve, mem- 

 branous, opening at the summit with 8, occasionally 1 0, 

 equal, shadow, acute teeth. Seeds numerous, kidney- 



. shaped, rough, attached, each on its own stalk, to a cen- 

 tral cylindrical receptacle, half the length of the capsule. 



