CERABTiDM. CAEYOPHYLLACEiE. 81 



ALSINE. 



California. 



C. aryeiise L. Sp. 438. More or less pubescent with reflexed hairs : ces- 

 pitose : stems erect, rather slender, 3-16 inches high : leaves linear or linear- 

 lanceolate 6-18 lines long, acute, clasping, those of the stem distant: 

 bracts small : cyme few-flowered, usually na,rrow : pedicels half to an inch 

 or more long : calyx 2-3 lines long, lanceolate, 



Var. angnstifolinm Fenzl in Ledeb. Fl. Eoss. i, 413 (7) Stems pubes- 

 cent, hoary or glandular : leaves elongated, linear or narrowly linear-lan- 

 ceolate, attenuate at base ; those of the stem approximate : lobes of the pet- 

 als oblong-ovate. Oregon. 



iC. alpiunm L, Sp. 438. Densely silky-hirsute: stems weak, decum- 

 bent and matted : leaves elliptic-ovate, 4-6 lines long : flowers few, oh more 

 or less elongated pedicels; petals bifid, twice the length of the rather ob- 

 tuse scarious-margined and hairy sepals : capsule nearly twice as long as 

 the calyx. Wyoming to Alaska, perhaps in Idaho. 



6 ALSINE L. (not Wahl. Fl. Lap. 127.) 



Low spreading herbs, usually preferring shaded or moist 

 places, with mostly 4-angled stems, flat, rarely acerose ; leaves 

 and small white flowers in cymes or solitary. Sepals 5, rarely 4, 

 somewhat united at base. "Petals as many, rarely wanting, al- 

 ways more or less deeply 2-cleft, often divided almost to the 

 base, thus appearing as 10, often -perigynous. Stamens 10, or by 

 abortion 3-8, styles 3, sometimes 2, 4 or 5, opposite to as many 

 sepals. Capsule globose to oblong, 1-celled, dehiscent to :below 

 the middle with twice as many membranous valves as styles. 

 Seeds numerous, reniform-globose or laterally compressed. 



§ 1 Myosoton Monch Method. 225, (as genus). Styles 5, al- 

 ternate with the sepals. Leaves ovate, acute. 



A. AQUATicA. Stellaria aqnatica Scop. Perennial: stems strongly an- 

 gled and somewhat pubescent: leaves large ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 

 acute, the upper sessile, cordate ; the lower petiolate : pedicels glandular- 

 viscid deflexed in fruit : petals 13^3-2 times as long as the campanulate 

 glandular-pubescent calyx : styles 5, alternate with the sepals : seeds nu- 

 merous dark-colored tuberculately roughened. At Nanaimo, Brit. Colum- 

 bia, perhaps Washington ; introduced from Europe. 



§ 2 Edstellabia Fenzl. Styles 3 or 4, 



* Petals deeply 2-parted, sometimes minute or wanting : segments 



narrow. 



-I- Lower leaves contracted to slender petioles. 



A. ntedlii L. Sp. i. 272. Stellaria media Cyr. Char. Comm. 36. Gla- 

 brous or nearly so : Stems weak and spreading, rooting at the lower joints, 

 marked by a pubescent line : leaves ovate to oblong-ovate, 3-9 lines long 

 on hairy petioles or the uppermost sessile : pedicels slender, 4-6 lines long, 

 deflexed in fruit : bracts foliaceous : petals oblong, deeply divided, shorter 

 than the pubescent sepals : stamens 3-10 : capsule oblong-ovat^ 2-3 lines 

 long, equalling or exceeding the calyx. A common weed in shady places 

 and cultivated grounds. Said to be introduced from Europe. 



A. nitens Greene Bot. Bay. Eeg. 33. Stellaria nitens Nutt. T. & G. Fl. i. 

 185. Smooth and shining, often hairy at base : stems slender,3-8 inches 

 high erect or spreading, dichotoniously branched with the flowers in the 

 forks : leaves lanceolate,, 3-6 lines long, acute, the lower shortly petiolate : 

 bracts small and scarious : pedicels not deflexed in fruit : petals narrow. 



