I 



DECANDRIA— PENTAGYNIA. Spevgula. 337 



Hofm. Germ, for 1800. 213. Ehrh. Herb. 76. Wahlenh. Lapp. 

 138, «;K/pr;/.L'4D. 

 S. annua, semine foliaceo nigro, circulo membranaceo albo cincto. 



Dill, in Rail Si/n.35 1 . Giss. 46. Ephem. Nat. Cur. cent. 5 and 



6. 275. t. 4. f. I. 

 Alsine marginata. Schreb. Lips. 3 1 . 

 A. spergulte facie minima. Magn. Momp. 1 i. 

 A. spergulae facie minima, seminibus marginalis. Tourn. Inst. 244. 



Linnseus by mi-^take always quote.s it emarginatis. 

 A. Spergula annua, semine foliaceo nigro, circulo membranaceo 



albo cincto. Moris, v. 2. 551. sect. 5. t. 23. /. Inst but one, 



marked 2. Hart. Bles. 228. 

 Arenaria teretifolia verna, flore albo, semine limbo foliaceo cincto, 



Rupp.Jetu 101. ed. Hall. 113. 

 In sandy corn-fields. 



j6. About the botanic garden, Liverpool. Mr. J. Shepherd. 

 y. In sandy ground in Ireland. Shcrard. 



Annual. June, July. 



Root small, tapering. Stems spreading, lax, from 6 inches to 2 

 feet in length, moderately branched, jointed, leafy ; round in 

 the lower part ; angular upwards ; hairy and viscid, especially 

 in the upper part ; each branch terminating in a forked, divari- 

 cated, downy, viscid panicle. Leaves numerous at every joint, 

 irregularly and imperfectly whorled, linear, narrow, fleshy, 

 downy, sometimes nearly smooth, bluntish ; flat above ; rounded 

 beneath. Stipulas in pairs under each whorl, membranous, very 

 .short. Floicer-stalks aw inch or more in length, round, slender, 

 downy, spreading j strongly reflexed as the fruit ripens. Calyx- 

 leaves obtuse, downy, with membi'anous edges. Pet. white, a 

 little longer than the calyx. Stani. generally 10, often 5, or some 

 intermediate number. Styles constantly 5. Caps, longer than 

 the calyx, splitting more than half way down into 5 undivided 

 teeth or valves. Seeds numerous, roundish, commonly black, 

 tumid and angular, with an obsolete border, and covered with 

 small tubercles or bristles ; but in /3 they are compressed, 

 .smooth, with a narrow whitish membranous border; and in y 

 they are quite flat, pale with a dark edge, and a white, mem- 

 branous, striated border, or wing, equal to the seed itself irj 

 breadth. 



I concur with Professor Hooker in considering B as but a slight 

 variety, there being not the smallest difference in the size or struc- 

 ture of any part of the plant, except the seeds, in which indeed 

 the difference is remarkable. But intermediate appearances 

 may be traced between the round I'ough angular seeds of the 

 common Spurrey, and the smooth, lenticular, bordered ones of 

 this variety. There is the same difference in Arenaria marina, 

 compared with rubra ; but there are presumed to be other spe- 

 cific marks between these two plants. On the other hand, Sper- 



VOL, u. 2 



