Cerdstium.'] xiv. CAKyophyllace^ : ALSiNEiE. 



11 



I, 



F 



1. M. erkta Sm. (upright M.). Sagina Z. : E, B. t. 609. 



Pastures, in a gravelly soil. 0. 5, 6.— Stem 2—4 inches high, 

 erect or frequently a little reclining at the base, glabrous as well as 

 the haves, which are opposite, linear-lanceolate, acute, rigid, glaucous. 

 Sepals large, acuminate, white and membranous at the margin. 

 Pet. lanceolate, as long as the calyx. Caps, as in Cerastium. 



15. Cerastium Linn. Mouse-ear Chickvveed. 



Cal of 5 sepals. Pet. 5, cloven. Stam. 10. Styles 5. Caps. 

 bursting at the top with 10 equal teeth.— J^amed (ictpac, a Jiorn) 

 from the rather long and curved capsules of some species. 



* Petals 7iot longer than the calyx. 



\. C. vulgdtum L. {hroad-leaved iJf",) ; hairy nearly erect 

 viscid above, leaves ovate, bracteas herbaceous, petals as long 

 as the calyx about half the length of the curved capsule, flowers 

 mostly subcapitate, calyces oblono: longer than their pedicels. 

 E. B. t. 789. C. glomeratum 7'huil 



Fields, pastures, and road-sides, common. 0. 4 9, Stem 6 10 



inches high, branched below, dichotomous above. Flowers at first 

 subcapitate, afterwards occasionally in dichotomous panicles. Petals 

 narrow, bifid, sometimes wanting. Caps, cylindrical, curved up- 

 wards. 



2. C. viscosiim L. (narrow -leaved M.) ; leaves oblong-lan- 

 ceolate, stem hairy viscid spreading, lower bracteas herbaceous 

 upper ones with narrow membranous margins, flowers at first 

 almost fascicled afterwards in elongated dichotomous cymes, 



calyx about as long as the pedicel and the corolla, about half 



E. B. t. 790. C. triviale 



the length of the curved fruit. 

 Link. 



4 



Pastures and waste places, wall-tops, &c. _ 



Spring and Summer. — Much resembling the last, but a larger, coarser, 



'2^ ? or rather 0. FL 



and spreading plant, with longer and narrower leaves ; c«/yces shorter 

 than their footstalks in general, especially when in fruit. Judging 

 from the figure, C. pumilum, Curtis Flora Lond., seems but the pen"^ 

 tandrous or early-flowering state of this species. 



3. G. semidecdndrum L. (little M.) ; leaves ovate or oblong, 

 stem hairy viscid suberect simple bearing a few-flowered cyme, 

 upper half of all the bracts and the sepals membranous, calyx 

 scarcely shorter than the pedicel about twice as lono- as the 

 petals shorter than the fruit. E. B. t. 1630. 



Dry w^sj;e places in sandy soil, on wall-tops, &c., frequent. 



o. 



This displays itself, as Sir J. E. Smith well observes, in 

 early spring, on every wall, and withers away before the C. viscos7tm 

 begins to put forth its far less conspicuous blossoms. Leaves usually 

 nairy, sometimes glabrous. Stamens usuallv 5, often 4, occasionally 



