204 British Species of the Genus Cerastium. 



STELLARIA, Linn. 



Calyx of 5 sepals. Petals 5, bifid. Stamens 10, rarely 5 or 8. 

 Styles 3, rarely 5. Capsule 1-celled, many seeded, opening with 6, 

 or rarely 5, valves. 



A. Stellarium. Styles 3, the capsule bursting by 6 entire valves. 

 This section includes the whole genus Stellaria of most authors. 



B. Malachium. Styles 5, the capsule bursting with 5 valves, each 

 of which is bifid at its extremity. Larbrea, Ser : in DC. Prod, 

 (not of St Hil.) Malachium, Fries, Reichenb. Koch. 



S. aquatica, Vill. Leaves cordate-ovate, mostly sessile and semi- 

 amplexicaule, peduncles axillary and solitary, petals rather longer 

 than the calyx, fruit-stalks reflexed. 



Cerastium aquaticum, Linn. Sp. PL 629. Eng. Bot. 538. DC 

 Prod. iii. 366, (note,) &c. 



Stellaria aquatica, " Vill. Delph. iii. 63 7-" Pers. Syn. i. 500, 

 (not of Seringe in DC. Prod. i. 398.) 



Larbrea aquatica, Ser. in DC. Prod, i, 395, (not of St Hilaire.) 



Malachium aquaticum, Fries, "Hall. 181 7> p- 77-" Nov. Suec, 

 121. Reichen. Fl.excurs.A$&]. Koch, Syn. 120. 



Stellaria pentagyna, Gaud. Fl. Helv. iii. 179. 



For a detailed description of this plant I would refer to Sm. Eng. 

 Fl. or Gaud. Fl. Helv. 



The Stellaria aquatica of DC. Prod. i. 398, is St. uliginosa of 

 Curtis and Smith, which is now distinguished as a genus under the 

 name of Larbrea of St Hilaire. Seringe applied this latter name 

 to our plant in De Candolle's Prodromus, as quoted above. This 

 mistake was corrected in the third volume of that work, and the 

 genus Larbrea, distinguished by its perigynous stamens, adopted 

 for the 67. uliginosa of Curtis. Our plant was, at the same time, 

 referred back to Cerastium. 



Should it be considered advisable to follow Fries, Reichenbach, 

 and Koch, by separating this plant both from Stellaria and Ceras- 

 tium, the name Malachium conferred upon it by Fries in the year 

 1817 cannot be retained. A genus of Coleopterous insects having 

 been described under the name of Malachius, and therefore only 

 differing in gender from Malachium, by Fabricius in his Systema 

 Eleutheratorum, which was published in 1801. 



According to Reichenbach and Koch, the Cerastium manticum, 

 Linn. (Stellaria mantica. DC.) possesses the same structure as our 

 plant. It is consequently referred by them to the genus Malachium, 

 and will of course be included in our section of that name. 



St John's College, Cambridge, April 8, 1837- 



