Spergula.] caryophyllace^. 67 



3. S. maritima, Don. Sea Pearlwort. "Annual glabrous, 

 stems erect or procumbent only at the base, leaves fleshy obtuse 

 or with a short apiculus, ' petals none,' sepals 4 roundish ovate 

 about as long as the capsule erect in fruit." — Br. Fl. p. 63. 

 E. B. t. 2195. Fl. Dan. xii. t. 2104. S. apetala ft, Wahl. Fl. 

 Suec. i. p. 109. 



On the sea-shore and in salt-mavshes ; rare. Fl. May — August. 0. 



JE. Med. — On the Dover spit below St. Helen's, in plenty. 



W. Med. — Gurnet Bay, sparingly. First found by Dr. Martin, immediately 

 below the battery at W. Cowes, on the platform of masonry a foot or two from 

 high-water mark !!! 



Capsules in my specimens from St. Helen's as long as the calyx or very little 

 exceeding it, being either just concealed by the converging segments of the latter, 

 or exposing its summit only. 



Wahlenberg makes our plant a variety of S. apetala ; but if not really distinct 

 it is surely rather a form of S. procumbens, to which all British botanists conceive 

 it to be more nearly related. It presents indeed characters common to both. 



VI. Speegula, Linn. Spurrey. 



" Calyx 5-leaved. Petals 5, undivided. Capsule ovate, 5- 

 celled, 5-valved."— 5r. Fl. 4th ed. 



1. S. subulata, Sw. Atvl-leaved Spurrey. " Leaves subulate 

 subciliated aristate, peduncles sohtary very long and the calyx 

 glandular - hairy, petals and capsule somewhat longer than the 

 calyx."— ^r. Fl. 4th ed. E. B. t. 1082. Sagina, Wimm. : Br. Fl. 

 6th ed. p. 63. Sagina procumbens &., L. 



On elevated sandy, gravelly, or stony heaths, moors and pastures ; rare ? Fl. 

 May— August. Fr. July. If. 



E. Med. — Corn-field near ShanHin, Miss E. Kirkpatrick. Gravel-pit on St. 

 George's Down, G. Kirkpatrick, Esq. Bare gravelly spot on Bleak Down, in 

 tolerable plenty. 



W. Med.— On Headon hill. 



It is extremely doubtful whether this be anything more than a var. of S. sagi- 

 noides, which is common on mountains in the North. (See the remarks of Hook, 

 in Br. Fl. 1. s. c.) Linnaeus thought it a variety of Sagina procumbens. 



2. S. nodosa, L. Knotted Spurrey. ,Sand Chichveed. Leaves 

 subulate opposite glabrous connate, the lower ones sheathing 

 much the longest, upper ones with axillary leafy clusters, petals 

 much longer than the calyx. Sm. E. Fl. ii. p. 338. E. B. x. t. 

 694. Curt. Fl. Lond. ii. fasc. 4, t. 34. Sagina, Br. Fl. p. 64. 



In moist sandy, gravelly and turfy pastures, but not common. J'V. July, 

 August. !(.. 



E. Med. — On St. Helen's spit, scattered sparingly amongst the furze. 



W. Med. — By a small pool (salt-marsh) near the Yar, at the N.E. end of Wil- 

 mington heath, but confined to a very limited spot. Plentiful at Freshwater 

 Gate, near the entrance on the marsh, in wet ground on the left just before coming 

 to the gate from the beach. Shore at Norton. Marsh near Compton, Mr. Snoolte. 



Root whitish, fibrous. Stems several, 3 or 4 inches hiffh, either prostrate, 

 ascending or decumbent at the base, a little hairy above, glabrous below, simple 

 or branched. Leaves connate, awl-shaped, smooth, flattisli or a little hollowed on 

 the upper, convex on the under surface, tipped with a minute callous point, but 

 not mucronate, lowest ones much the longest and spreading, gradually shortening 



