336 DECANDRIA— PENTAGYNIA. Spergula. 



the moment he paid little attention to the subject, for surely they 

 are all equally distinct and well marked. 



244. SPERGULA. Spuney. 



Limi. Gen. 232. Juss. 301. Fl. Br. 502. Dill Gen. 131. f. 7. 

 Lam. t. 392. Gccrtn.t. \30. 



Nat. Orel, see 7i. 241. 



Cal, inferior, of 5 ovate, obtuse, spreading, permanent 

 leaves, more or less membranous at the edges. Pet. 5, 

 ovate, with very short claws, concave, spreading, larger 

 than the calyx, undivided. Filam. 10, sometimes but 5, 

 awl-shaped, shorter than the corolla. Anth. roundish, 

 2-lobed. (3rerm. superior, ovate. Styles 5, short, slender, 

 spreading. Stigmas downy. Caps, ovate, membranous, 

 of 1 cell and 5 connected valves, covered with the perma- 

 nent calyx. Seeds roundish or kidney-sha})ed, com- 

 pressed, rough or smooth, sometimes with a membranous 

 border. 



Herbaceous, with slender linear leaves, and white^ott)<?r5. 

 Distinguished from Cerastium, as Linnaeus remarks, by 

 having undivided petals. But the 5 valves, or deeply 

 separated teeth, of the capsule are full as important, and 

 the natural habit of the whole genus is more allied to 

 Arenaria, from which Spergula differs solely in having 5 

 styles, and a corresponding number of valves to the/ruit. 



1. S. arv€7isis. Corn Spurrey. 



Leaves whorled. Stalks when in fi'uit reflexed. 



S. arvensis. Linn. Sp. PL 630. Willd. v. 2. 818. Fl. Br. 502. 



E7igl. Bot. r. 22. ^.1535. Curt. Lond.fasc.5. t.3\. Hook. 



Scot. 144. Fl. Dan. t. 1033. Ehrh. Herb. 66. Gunn. Norveg. 



p.].\6. Hoffm. Germ. for 1800. 213. 

 Spergula. Dod. Pempt. 537. f. Frument. 139./. Dalech. Hist. 



1331./. Bauh.Hist.v. 3.719,2./. 

 Alsine n. 873. Hall. Hist. v. 1. 385. 

 A. Spergula dicta major. Bauh. Pin. 251. Rail Syn. 351. Du- 



ham. Cult.v. 6. 149. t.\. 

 Saginse Spergula. Ger. Em. 1 125./ 



jS. Spergula pentandra. Engl. Bot. v. 22. 1. 1 536. Comp. 72. Ab- 

 bot 102} 

 Alsine Spergula dicta, semine membran. fusco. Moris. Raii Syn. 



fd. 2. 210? 

 y. S. pentandra. Linn. Sp. PI. 630. ed. 1 . 440. Willd. v. 2. 818. 



Fl.Br. 503. LoeJI. It. Hisp. 143. Roth Germ. v. \. 196. v.2. 505. 



