DECANDRIA PENTAGYNIA 277 



3. A. lateriflora, L. Stem rather erect, slender, somewhat branch- 

 ed, pubescent ; leaves elliptic-oblong, mostly obtuse, ciliate ; peduncles 

 lateral and terminal, solitary, elongated, generally bifurcate ; one of the 

 pedicels bibractcatc near the middle ; petals twice as long as the obtuse 

 nerveless smooth sepals. Beck, Bot. p. 63. Icox, Hook. Am. 1. 

 tab. 36. 

 Lateral-flowered Arenaria. 



Root perennial. Stern 4 to 6 inches high, terete, very slender, but rather rigid, 

 generally somewhat dichotomously branched, often simple, clothed with a short and 

 rather retrorse pubescence. Leaves half an inch to near an inch long,and 1 fourth to 

 1 third of an inch wide, varying from ovate-oblong to elliptic and obo vat e- oblong, of- 

 ten rather acute, narrowed at base, sessile, or subsessile, rough ish-punctace, ob- 

 scurely nerved, the midrib and nerves beneath bristly-pubescent, margins ciliate. 

 Peduncle an inch or more in length, filiform, generally axillary near the summit of 

 the stem, and branching into 2 pedicels (sometimes a third dichotomal one);pedicels 

 half an inch to an inch long, bracteate at base, and one of them with a pair of minute 

 opposite brarts near the middle. Sepals ovate-oblong, obtuse, mostly nerveless 

 and smooth. Petals white, obovate-oblong, obtuse, rather more than twice as long 

 as the sepals. Stamens shorter than the petals; fi la meats pubescent, somewhat 

 dilated and confluent at base,— or rather inserted on a margined hypogynous ring. 

 Ovary ovoid, obtuse, narrowed at base ; styles nearly as long as the stamens. 

 Capsule ovolJ, obtuse. Seeds compressed, subreniform-orbicular, rugosely scab- 

 rous, reddish brown. 



Hob. Along Parke's rivulet, Powningtown: rare. Fl. June. Fr. July— August. 



Gb*. This has only been found in the above locality, in Chester County,— 

 where it was detected by Mr. Joshua Hoopes, in i&JO. The plant, erroneously 

 so named in my Catalogue, proved to be a Stellaria (viz. S. boreal is), — as I sus- 

 pected ai the time. Eight or ten additional species have been enumerated in the 

 U. States;— and Prof. HooJzer describes 20 in British America. 



Order 4- Pcntagynia* 



221. CERASTIUM. L. JSTutt. Gen. 417. 

 [Greek, Keras, a horn ; in allusion to the form of the capsules.] 



Calyx 6-scpalled. Petals 5, bifid or cmarginate. Capsule 1-ceIIed, 

 mostly cylindrical, opening at apex with 10 teeth. 



Herbaceous: stem nodose, with an elastic centre; leaves opposite; flowers 

 terminal, subcapitate, or dichotomously paniculate. Nat. Ord. MO. LindL Caryo- 



rilYLLEJE. 



* Petals scarcely longer than the calyx. 



1. C. vulratum! L. Leaves ovate and obovate, obtuse; bracts and 



outer sepals herbaceous; flowers in subcapitate clusters ; calyces most* 



ly longer than the pedicels. Beck? Hot, p. 53. Not of Pers. MuhL 



Nor Florid. Cestr. 



C. ovale? Pers. Sya. Up. 621. 



C. hirsutum, Muhl. Catal. p. 46. Ell. Sk. 1. p. 524. Also, Torr. Fl. 



1. p. 459. Ejusd. Comp.p. 194. Eat. Man. p. 88. Not of DC. nor 



Florid. Cestff 



Also, C. connatum. Beck, Bot. p. 55. 



Common Cerastium. Vuljo — Mouse-ear Chickweed. Mouse-car. 



24 



