PINK FAMILY. 6? 



7. SAGINA, PEARLWORT. (Latin name, means rich nourishment, 

 which, however, these small and insignificant plants can hardly be. ) There 

 are four or five species in the country, none very common ; the most so is 



S. proctimbens. Springy places' and damp shores, &c., N. ; a smooth 

 little plant, tufted and spreading, l'-3' high, with almost thread-shaped leaves; 

 the blunt sepals, short white petals, stamens, and styles 4 or rarely 5. 



8. CEEASTIUM, MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED. (Name in ' Greek 

 refers to the horn-shaped pod of some species. The popular name is from the 

 shape and soft hairiness of the leaves of the common species.) 



* Fhwers inconspicuous, the deeplii 2-cleft petals being shorter or little longer than 



the calyx ; the pods becoming much longer and curving more or less. Flower- 

 ing all summer, white. 



C. vulg^tum, Common M., from Penn. S., but scarce N., in grassy place's. 

 An insignificant soft-hairy weed ; stems erect, 4' - 9' high, slightly clammy ; 

 leaves ovate or obovate, small ; pedicels even in fruit and petab shorter than 

 the calyx, (j) 



C viscdsum, Clammy M. Common in grassy places ; stems spreading, 

 6' - 15' long, clammy-hairy ; leaves oblong ; pedicels becoming longer than the 

 calyx ; petals as long as the calyx. ® ^ 



C, nutans, Nodding-fruited M. Common in moist or shady grounds, 

 wild. Claminy-pubescent, erect, 6' - 18' high, becoming very loosely-flowered 

 and branched ; leaves oblong-lanceolate ; petals longer than calyx ; pods long, 

 nodding on the slender flower-stalk and curved upwards. ® 



* » Flowers conspicuous, the snowy white petals 2 or 3 times the length of the calyx: 



pod shorter : plants forming matted tufis. y, 

 C. arv^nse, Field M. Dry fields, &c. Downy but green ; leaves vary- 

 ing from narrow-oblong tojinear ; flowering stems 4' - 6' high, few-flpweied ; 

 petals notched at the end. 



C tomentdsum, Cottony M. Cult, from Eu. for borders, &c., its 

 spreading shoots, crowded with oblong white-woolly leaves, making dense silyery 

 mats ; petals deeply 2-cleft. 



9. STELLAEIA, STABWORT-CHICKWEED. (Name ftom Latin 

 Stella, a star.) Petals white, but sometimes small or none. El. spring and 

 summer. None cultivated ; but the first is a weed in every garden. 



* Stems weak and spreading, marked with pubescent lines : leaves brqa4, 



S. m^dia. Common S. or Chickweed. In all damp cult, grounds ; 

 leaves ovate or oblong, the lower on hairy petioles; petals shorter than the 

 calyx, 2-parted ; stamens 3- JO, ® 



S. ptlbera, Great 8. Shaded rocks, wild from Penn. S. & W. ; leaves 

 oblong or oval, sessile ; petals longer than the calyx, 2-cieft. 



* # Stems erect or spreading, and whole plant smooth : leaves narrow, sessile. 21 



S. longifdlia. Long-leaved S. or Stitchwoet. Common in damp 



frassy places N. ; stem weak, 8' -18' high; leaves linear, widely spreading; 

 owers numerous on slender spreading pedicels in a ve;-y loose cyme ;' petals 

 2-parted, longer than the ealyjf, 



S. bore^lis, Northern S. Wet grassy places N. ; stem 3' -10' high, 

 forking repeatedly and with flowers in the forks of the leafy branches ; leaves 

 broadly lanceolate or narrow-oblong ; petals shorter than the calyx, or none, 



10. ARENAMA, sandwort. (So named because peveral grow in 

 sand or sandy soil. ) All the following are wild, also gome others less con)r 

 mon. El. spring and summer. 



» Petals inconspicuous, white. 

 A. Serpyllif61ia, Thyme-leaved S. An insignificant little weed, in 

 sandy or gravelly waste places, 2' - 6' high ; stems erect, roughish, much 

 branched ; leaves ovate, pointed ; petal^ scarcely longer thaij the 3 :- 5-nerved 

 pointed sepals. ® 



