PINK FAMILY 



Sepals. — Five, shorter than the jjetals. 



Petals. — Five, deeply deft so as to look like ten. 



Ovary. — One-celled; styles five. 



Capsule. — Cylindrical, opening at the top by ten teeth. 



CerasHum iomeniosum is valuable both as a foliage and as a 

 flowering plant. In bloom its white flowers fairly overwhelm the 

 leaves; later the leaves are as desirable as the flowers, they are so 

 white and velvety. The blossom shows distinctly the chickweed 

 characteristic of divided petal; apparently there are ten petals, but 

 really only five, for each petal is cleft so deep that it looks like two. 



COMMON CHICKWEED 



Stellhria m^dia. 



Slellaria, Latin, a star; referring to the shape of the flower. 



Annual, spreading, much-branched, procumbent. Naturalized from 

 Europe. Grows everj^where and blooms all the time; is cultivated in 

 the suburbs of Paris for canary-birds. 



5/ew.— •Procumbent, weak, and spreading. 

 Leaves. — Ova,te, or oblong, the lower on hairy petioles. 

 Flowers. — Small, white, borne on loose terminal cymes, also solitary 

 in the axils; the peduncles lengthen after the flower fades. 

 Calyx. — Star-like, pale-green, pubescent. 

 Sepals. — Five, ovate, longer than the petals. 



Peto/i.— Five, deeply two-cleft so that apparently there are ten; 

 shorter than the sepals. 



Stamens. — Vary in number from two to ten. 



Ovary. — One-celled; styles three to five; seeds many. 



The Chickweed is everywhere: along the garden walk, among 

 the flowers, by the side of- the house, in every neglected comer. 

 The plant is rather pleasant to look upon, and in November, after 

 the first frosts, when the vegetable garden is a scene of desolation, 

 the soft green carpet of the Chickweed.so covers unsightly places 

 that one almost pardons it for being a weed; it is so soft, so green, 

 so thriving, so hopeful in the very breath of coming winter. 



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