CAKTOPHTLLACEiE. 95 



? Var S, nmhrosa. 



S. umbrosa, " Opitz." teste Bah. ]\Ian. Brit. Bot. ed. v. p. 64. 



S. grandiflora, " Tenore." Woods, in Hook. Comp. to Bot. Mag. Vol. II. p. 264. 



S. Elizabethse, " F. Schultz," Newbould. 



Stem slender, erect or ascending. Pedicels almost glabrous. 

 Leaves sometimes attenuated at the base, and generally much 

 acuminated at the apex. Flowering peduncles long. Sepals 

 lanceolate - acute, glabrous, with small raised points. Seeds 

 fuscous, closely covered with prominent acute tubercles, which 

 are star-shaped at the base. 



In cultivated ground, waste places, and hedgebanks. Var. a 

 very common throughout Britain. Var. on sandy ground, Isle 

 of Wight and Yorkshire; probably elsewhere on poor soil. Var. 7, 

 Isle of Wight and Yorkshire ; probably frequent. Var. 8, rare ; 

 Hendle Wood, near Lewes, Sussex ; Mr. Newbould also tells me 

 he has seen it in Dorset, West Somerset, and Yorkshire. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Annual. Spring to Autumn. 



A very variable plant, with stems 3 inches to 3 feet long. 

 Leaves generally glabrous, also variable in size and shape. The hairy 

 stripe on the stem seems to be always present, but in var. 8 it is 

 very faint. Flowers from -^ to f inch across, varying in the number 

 of stamens, the length of the styles, and the size and sculpture of the 

 seeds. Pedicels reflexed after flowering, but ascentling when the 

 fruit is ripe. 



Var. looks more like a starved state than a true variety. 



Var. y has much the habit of Stellaria nemorum, but does not 

 appear to me entitled to rank as a sub-species, which, however, 

 can only be determined by continued cultivation. 



Var. 8 is most probably a sub-species, as the seeds are different 

 in colour and sculptiu-e from those of varieties «, 0, and 7. It has 

 the tubercles of the seeds closer, more acute, and the puckering 

 is regular, and makes the base starlike ; the long slender peduncles 

 and more acute sepals give the plant a very different appearance, 

 but the shape of the leaves appears to be inconstant, judging from 

 a fine series collected by Dr. J. A. Power, to whom I am indebted 

 for specimens. Possibly this form is a perennial, as some of 

 Dr. Power's specimens have barren shoots. 



Common CJdckioeed, StUclnoort. 



French, SleUaire Morgeline. German, Gemeines Vogelkraut. 



