CARYOPHYLLACEiE. 39 



Plate 114. 



CERASTIUM, L. 



Petala obcordata vel bifida. Stamina 10, raro pauciora. 

 Ovarium imiloculare. Styli tot quot sepala (saepius 5), iisdem 

 opposita. Capsula cylindracea seu elongata, apice in dentes 

 duplo stylorum numero dehiscens. Semina estrophiolata. — 

 Folia plana, exstipulata. 



Cerasticm, Linn. Gen. 535. Gaertn. Fr. t. 130. Fenzl in Endl. Gen. 

 5241, «fc in Ledeb. Fl. Ross. 1. p. 396. 



Mouse-ear Cliickweed. 



Calyx of five, or very rarely four, nearly distinct herba- 

 ceous SEPALS, imbricated in aestivation, persistent. Petals as 

 many as the sepals and alternate with them, obscurely peri- 

 gynous, obcordate, two-cleft, or emarginate, very rarely entire, 

 imbricated in aestivation. Stamens twice as many as the 

 sepals, or rarely of only the same number, obscurely perigy- 

 nous : FILAMENTS filifomi or subulate : anthers two-celled, 

 introrse, opening longitudinally. Ovary one-celled : styles 

 as many as the sepals and opposite them, or very rarely 

 fewer, the whole inner face stigmatose. Ovules numerous 

 on an elongated central placenta, amphitropous. 



Capsule membranaceous, longer than the calyx, usually 

 cylindrical and prolonged, straight or curved, sometimes cy- 

 lindraceous-conical, one-celled, dehiscent at the apex only 

 by twice as many teeth as there are styles or sepals, the 

 teeth or their margins commonly re volute. Seeds numer- 

 ous, campylotropoiis ; the crustaceous testa granulated or 

 papillose ; the hilum not strophiolate. Embryo coiled into 

 a complete or incomplete ring around the outside of the 

 farinaceous albumen. 



Herbs usually pubescent or woolly, branching, with flat 

 exstipulate leaves, and cymose, or rarely solitary, peduncu- 

 late flowers. Petals white. 



