332 DECANDRIA— PENTAGYNIA. Cerastium. 



ovate-oblong 5 the lower ones smoothest. Panicle spreading, 

 viscid. Flower-stalks longer than the calyx, bent down as the 

 flowers fade, but finally erect. Calyx-leaves rough and gluti- 

 nous, obtuse, with a broad white shining margin. Pet. pure 

 white, conspicuous, though shorter than the calyx, slightly 

 cloven at the tip, sometimes cut at the side, but irregularly and 

 accidentally. ^SVan;. 5, very rarely more. Styles 5. Caps, slightly 

 curved, twice as long as the calyx. Seeds rough, compressed. 



/3 differs slightly in the size of its "petals, which are cloven about a 

 third of their length. 



Haller attributes 3 styles only to his n. 894. I have never seen or 

 heard of fewer than 5 in the Cerastium semidecandrum, which is 

 indubitably a most distinct species, displaying itself on every 

 wall in the early spring, and withering away before the viscosum 

 begins to put forth its, far less conspicuous blossoms. 



4. C. tetrandrum. Four-cleft Mouse-ear Chiclcweed, 



Hairy and somewhat viscid. Flowers four-cleft, with four 

 stamens. Petals inversely heart-shaped, shorter than 

 the taper-pointed calyx, which is nearly as long as the 

 capsule. 



C. tetrandrum. Curt. Lond.fasc. 6.^31. Fl.Br. 498. Comp. 72. 



Hook. Scot. 143. Hofm. Germ, for J 800. 212. 

 Sagina cerastoides. Sm. Tr. of L. Soc. v. 2. 343. Engl. Bat. v. 3. 



t. 166. Dicks. H. Sice. fasc. 10.4. Bryandr. Bibl. Banks. 



r.S. 244. 



On the sandy sea coast, walls, and waste ground. 



Upon v/alls about Edinburgh, as well as on the Calton hill, and 

 Arthur's Seat, 1782. Since found by Mr. Dickson, on Inch 

 Keith and Inch Combe, in the Frith of Forth, and on the beach 

 below Preston-pans. Professor Hooker in a note, Fl. Scot. 143, 

 says it grows near Yarmouth, Norfolk ; but 1 have not seen 

 specimens. 



Annual. May, June. 



Jtoot small and slender. Herb of a bright light green, clothed 

 with short dense hairs, and somewhat viscid. Stems several, 

 spreading, or partly procumbent, branched, forked, leafy, from 

 2 to 6 inches high in a wild state. Leaves elliptic-oblong j the 

 upper ones short and ovate. Flower-stalks nearly thrice the 

 length of the calyx, erect ; bent downward as the fruit ripens. 

 Cal. of 4 hairy, viscid, pointed leaves, the 2 innermost narrowest, 

 with a broader membranous margin. Pet. 4, white, cloven half 

 way down, and somewhat rounded, so as to be inversely heart- 

 shaped. Stam. 4, rarely 5. Stijles 4, short. Caps, a little 

 longer than the calyx, straight, with 8 long linear teeth. Seeds 

 roughish at the outer edge. 



The figure in Engl, Bot., drawn, like Mr. Curtis's, from a garden 



