CARYOPHYLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY) 141 
styles usually five, sometimes four or three. Capsules much exceed- 
ing the calyx and containing many small, roughened seeds which are 
released by the opening of ten pointed teeth at the apex. In the 
southern part of its range the plant dies down in summer, but 
makes a second growth in autumn and remains green through the 
winter. 
Means of control 
Where the plant takes possession of grasslands it is best to cleanse 
the ground with a short rotation of hoed crops. Small areas 
should be carefully grubbed out, and wayside patches prevented 
from spreading. 
COMMON MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED 
Cerdstium vulgdtum, L. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to September. 
Seed-time: June to October. 
Range: Throughout North America except 
the extreme North. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, yards, roadsides, 
and waste places. 
Stems tufted, some prostrate, others erect 
or ascending, six inches to a foot or more in 
length, dark green, and clammy-hairy. Basal 
and lower leaves oblong-spatulate, obtuse; 
upper ones usually oblong, sometimes lance- 
shaped, a half-inch to an inch long, not at all 
resembling the ears of a mouse. Flowers in 
loose cymose clusters, the central one solitary 
and always the oldest; usually but one flower 
in a cluster is open at a time; the five white 
petals are cleft at the-tip and are longer than 
the somewhat obtuse, hairy sepals; styles 
always five, and stamens ten. Seed capsule | Fic. 93.— Common 
slenderly ovoid, faintly ridged, slightly curved reared ees 
upward, opening through ten pointed teeth x 3. 
