Cerastiim.] XVI. CARYOPHYLLE^. 87 



equal. Seeds more or less reniforni,— Herbs, usually pubescent or hirsute. 

 Leaves rarely subulate. Cymes terminal, dichotomous, leafy, or the floral leaves 

 reduced to small or scarious bracts. Seeds usually pitted or muricate. 



A considerable genus, distributed chiefly over the temperate regions of the northern hemi- 

 sphere, more especially in the Old World, rare within the tropics except in mountain regions. 



1. C. vulgatum (common), fJnii.: DC. Prod. i. 415; Bemth. FL Austr. i, 

 156. Mouse-ear chickweed. A coarsely pubescent usually more or less viscid 

 annual, branching at the base, sometimes dwarf, erect, and much branched, at 

 others loosely ascending to 1ft. or even 2ft., occasionally forming at the end of 

 the season dense matted tufts, which may live through the winter and give it the 

 appearance of a perennial. Radical leaves small and petiolate ; stem leaves 

 sessile, from broadly ovate to narrow oblong. Sepals 2 to 2| lines long, green 

 and pubescent, but with more or less conspicuous scarious margins. Petals 

 seldom exceeding the calyx, and often much shorter, sometimes very minute or 

 even none. Stamens often reduced to 5 or fewer. Capsule cylindrical, often 

 curved and projecting beyond the calyx. — Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. v. t. 228, 229 ; 

 C. viscosmn, Linn.; DC. I.e. 416. 



Hab.: The southern parts of the colony. 



6. STELLARIA, Linn. 



(Star-like flowers.) 



Sepals 5, rarely 4, Petals as many, usually 2-cleft, rarely wanting. Stamens 

 10 or fewer. Styles 3, rarely 2 or 4, or very rarely 6, and then alternate with the 

 sepals. Capsule globular, ovoid or oblong, opening to below the middle in twice 

 as many valves as styles, or in an equal number of 2-cleft valves. — Herbs, usually 

 diffuse, tufted or ascending, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves rarely subulate. 

 Flowers solitary, or in loose leafless or leafy cymes. Seeds usually pitted oi 

 muricate. , 



A considerable genus, spread over nearly the whole globe, although within the tropics confined 

 to mountain districts. 



Petals longer than or nearly as long as the sepals. 

 Leaves mostly sessile, linear or lanceolate. Pedicels axillary. Perennials. 



Leaves rigid and pungent, mostly linear-lanceolate, often recurved . . 1. S. puiifjens. 



Leaves linear, slender . . . . 2. .S. glauca. 



Leaves mostly petiolate, ovate or ovate-lanceolate. Pedicels axillary. 



Perennial without any pubescent line . 3. S. Jlaccida. 



Leaves sessile or petiolate, broadly ovate. Pedicels in the forks. Annual, 



with a pubescent line down each internode . . . i. S. media. 



1. S. pungens (pungent), Brongn. Voy. Cvq. t. 78 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. i. 157. 

 Perennial and very much branched, decumbent or ascending amongst bushes, 

 often to 3 or 4ft., with angular branches, smooth and shining, glabrous, or 

 hirsute with loose scattered hairs. Leaves lanceolate to linear, rigid and pungent, 

 mostly 3 to 4 lines long, and never exceeding fin., often spreading or recurved, 

 all sessile or scarcely narrowed at the base, the lower ones sometimes small and 

 crowded. Pedicels axillary, very variable in length, but usually considerably 

 exceeding the leaves. Sepals rigid, pungent, about 3 lines long, the outer ones 

 prominently 3-nerved. Petals about as long or rather longer, deeply cleft. — 

 Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. i. 44 ; F. v. M. PI. Vict. i. 209 ; S. squarrosa, Hook. Journ. 

 Bot. i. 250. 

 Hab.: Stanthorpe, towards the border of New South Wales. 



2. S. glauca (grey-green colour of foliage), With.; DC. Prod. i. 397 ; Benth. 

 Fl. Austr. i. 158. Perennial, usually glabrous, smooth and shining, with slender 

 ascending or erect branches, often 1 to 2ft. high, but sometimes low and intricate. 

 Leaves linear, acute, f to IJin. long, or the upper ones short. Pedicels axillary 



