MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED 



Zeovei.— Opposite, lance-linear, entire. 

 Ca/ya;.— Bell-shaped, five-cleft, minute. 

 Petals. — Five with slender claws, border notched. 

 Stamens. — Ten; filaments and anthers white. 

 Ovary. — One-celled; styles two. 

 Pod. — Four-valved; many-seeded. 



A shimmer of white, a greenish mist, a veil— this is Gypsophila 

 at its best. The chief characteristic of the plant is its lightness 

 and delicacy; the stems stand upright, di- 

 vide and subdivide, and then divide again, 

 and when in bloom are covered with a 

 mass of minute white flowers of the pink 

 type. These flowering sprays when com- 

 bined with coarser and more brilliant blos- 

 soms soften the effect, transform crudity 

 into sweetness and light, and even en- 

 hance beauty by throwing a veil over 

 loveliness .itself. When grown for this pur- 

 pose the large and the double blossoms f^yp^°P''"''-. GypsdthUa 

 offered by the trade should be carefully 

 avoided; the smaller and more abundant flowers produce the 

 more desirable and effective results. 



Several other species are in cultivation; the best of these are 

 Gypsophila acutifdlia, a strong-growing plant with large panicles 

 of small white flowers, and Gypsophila cerastoides, an Asiatic 

 species whose small white flowers are veined with red. 



MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED 



Cerdstium tomentosum 



Cerastium, Greek, a horn; alluding to the shape of the seed-vessels. 



A low plant of weak, spreading stems and used for edgings because of 

 its silvery foliage. Europe. 



Stem. — Low, creeping; shoots spreading; all crowded with oblong 

 or spatulate, white, woolly leaves making dense silvery mats. 

 Flowers. — White, on forking peduncles six inches high. 



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