322 T. Holm — North American Species of Stellaria. 



tical Flora (1. c, p. 233-230). The inflorescence is constantly 

 terminal in Stellaria as in all the other members of the family, 

 but it happens, sometimes, that the flowers become overtopped 

 by the excessive growth of an axillary, vegetative shoot. This 

 is, for instance, the case with S. longifolia, which is said to have 

 a " lateral cyme. " In S. crispa the flowers are not " solitary, 

 axillary, " but terminal. However the ramification of this 

 species is qnite singular, and it may look as if the flowers were 

 axillary, but only apparently so. The shoots are very long, 

 and leafy to the top; not infrequently the single flower is placed 

 next to a long shoot with many pairs of leaves, and also bearing 

 a single flower, accompanied by a long vegetative shoot. The 

 flower is terminal, however, but instead of occupying the center 

 in a cyme, it is single, since only one lateral shoot becomes devel- 

 oped from the uppermost pair of opposite leaves, and this shoot 

 being frequently vegetative in its entire length. It is far from 

 seldom, however, to find specimens which show the normal 

 structure in a perfectly typical manner. Among the specimens 

 which Mr. Kearney collected in Alaska and kindly placed at our 

 disposal, there are some in which the shoots are terminated by a 

 single flower, and in which no axillary, vegetative branch has 

 been produced; in others the terminal flower is located between 

 two very short branches, each of which is again terminated 

 by a flower. 

 Brookland, D. C, December, 1907. 



EXPLANATION OF FIGURES. 



Fig. 1. Stellaria pubera Michx. showing a vegetative shoot (V) in its first 

 year of growth, and another (V*) in its second year ; the shoots marked F are 

 floral ; one half natural size. 



Fig. 2. A complete specimen of S. umbellata Turez. from an elevation of 

 14,200 feet (Colorado) ; stolons with scale-like leaves are developed from the 

 sub terranean stem-portion ; natural size. 



Fig. 3. Two stolons of the same species ; 2 x natural size. 



Figs. 4, 5, 6. Tuberous rhizomes of S. Jamesii Torr. ; one half natural 

 size. 



