66 



XIV. CARTOPHYLLACE^ : ALSINK.E. lAre7ldria 



10. Arenarxa Linn. Sandwort. 



Flowers all perfect, 

 vided. 



Sepals 5. Pet. 5, conspicuous, undi 

 Stam. 10, or occasionally 5. Styles 3 4. 



celled, opening with 3 



■5 entn^e valves (alternating with the 



sepals when as many), or with 6—10 valves (or teeth). Seeds 

 many, minute.— Named from arena, sand, the greater number 

 of species growing in sandy soil. 



1, Valves of capsule as many as the stfjles, entire. Alsine. 



1. 



A. verna L. {vernal S.) ; stems numerous panicled above 

 leaves subulate 3-nerved when dry, petals obovate and as well 

 as the capsule somewhat longer than the lanceolate acuminate 

 3-nerved sepals. E. B. t. 512. Alsine Wahl. 



f 



Rocky and mountahious pastures, in the porth of England, Wales 

 and Cornwall ; abundant on Arthur's Seat and in other places about 

 Edinburgh ; Mael Duncroisg, Breadalbane : not found at all in the 



west of Scotland. %. 



5, 6. 



Stems 3 — 4 inches high, slightly hairy, 



as are the calyces and peduncles. The leaves are usually acute'or mu- 

 cronate, but in the Cornish form, supposed to be the obscure A. 

 Gerardi Willd., they are bluntish ; lower ones crowded, often curved! 



2. A. rubella Hook, {alpine S,) ; stems numerous, peduncles 

 terminal downy mostly single-flowered, leaves linear-subulate 

 obtuse 3-nerved, petals elliptic-lanceolate and as well as the 

 capsule shorter than the lanceolate very acute 3-nerved calyx. 

 £J. B. S. t.2638. Alsine Wahl. Arenaria quadrivalvis Br. 



Near the summits of the Breadalbane mountains, among soil and 

 broken rocks, rare. Ben Hope, Sutherland, :2^. 7, 8. — This is 

 quite an alpine or arctic plant. It loves to grow with its root buried 

 under a loose piece of rock, and late in the summer often acquires a 



reddish tinge. 



Stamens from a glandular disk. 



^ . Styles usually 4, 



sometimes 3 or 5; the valves of the capsule are, consequently, equally 

 variable. 



3. A. uliginosa Schl. {Bog S.) ; stems prostrate at the base, 

 then erect with 1 — 3 flowers on long slender peduncles, leaves 

 subulate semiterete bluntish nerveless, sepals ovate acute 3- 

 nerved about as long as the oblong-obovate petals. E. B. S. 

 t. 2890. Spergula stricta Sw. (not Mich.) Alsine Wahl. 



Banks of a stream near the top of Widdy-Bank Fell (not far from 

 Langdon foot-bridge), Teesdale, Durham. 1}.. 6.— Whole plant 

 glabrous. Stems csespitose. Nerves of the sepals disappearing near 

 the middle, the margin membranaceous and almost white. The 

 specific name stricta is the oldest, but this plant is very different from 

 the J. {Alsine) stricta Mich. 



4. A. tenuifolia L. {fine-leaved S.) ; stems much branched 

 dichotomous panicled above, leaves narrow linear-subulate 



acute 3-nerved, sepals narrow lanceolate 3-nerved about twice 



( 



as 



