114 BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS chap. 



Cerastium 



White flowers, with half-concealed honey. 



C. arvense. — The general arrangements of the flower 

 agree in the main with those of Stellaria Holostea. 

 Besides the complete flowers, there are other smaller 

 ones with more or less rudimentary stamens. 



C. vulgare. — Bentham calls this a protean species, 

 and by other botanists it has been divided into several, 

 even as many as 20 to 30. In the facts of their life- 

 history they agree in the main with the preceding 

 species. 



Spergtjla 



In the preceding genera of the family the leaves have 

 no stipules. They are, as a rule, sessile, and broad at 

 the base, thus protecting the young bud. In Spergula 

 and Spergularia, however, the base of the leaves is 

 narrow, but provided with two stipules, which, with the 

 base of the leaf, serve the same purpose. 



S. arvensis. — A cornfield weed. The stipules are 

 small and scarious. The stamens are normally 5, but 

 often fewer, and in some flowers absent. The flowers 

 remain closed in bad weather and fertilise themselves. 

 The seeds often have a wide, scarious border. 



Spergularia 



S. rubra. — The stipules are much larger ; the 

 arrangement of the flower resembles that of the pre- 

 ceding species. The seeds also are often bordered, 

 especially in the variety marina. The plant is found 

 on sand and gravel in waste places, especially near the 

 sea. The stipules develop early ; they are connate at the 

 base, scarious, persistent, and inserted just beneath the 

 leaves, completely enclosing them in bud, covering their 

 bases even when fully developed. This is a very unusual 

 arrangement. 



