CARYOPHYLLACEAE. 397 



«*lsine borealis alpestris (Fries) Britton. Larger, leaves broader, cyme more diffuse; 

 tipper bracts scarious or scarious-margined; seeds obscurely roughened. Lake Superior, 

 the Saskatchewan region, Rr. Col. and the Rocky Mts. Also in northern Asia. 



12. Alsine fontinalis (Short & Peter) Britton. Water Stitchwort. (I. F. f. 

 1483.) Annual, glabrous; -terns weak, very slender, branched, ascending or diffuse, 

 1-3 dm. long. Leaves linear-spatulate, 8-25 mm. long, about 2 mm. wide, the 

 upper sessile, acute or subacute at the apex, the lower obtuse and narrowed into 

 short petioles; pedicels filiform, 6-30 mm. long, erect or ascending, solitary or 2-3 

 together in the forks of the stem and branches and axils; calyx oblong-campanulate, 

 2 mm. long; sepals 4 or 5. oblong or linear, obtuse, about equalling the ovoid-oblong 

 obtuse capsule; stamens 4-8; petals wanting; styles very short; seeds densely tuber- 

 culate-roughened. In wet places, Ky. and Tenn. April-May. 



11. CERASTIUM L. 



Generally pubescent or hirsute herbs, with terminal cymes of white flowers. 

 Sepals 5, rarely 4. Petals of the same number, emarginate or bifid (rarely want- 

 ing). Stamens 10. rarely fewer. Styles equal in number to the sepals and oppo- 

 site them, or in some species fewer. Capsule cylindric. 1 -celled, many-ovuled, 

 often curved, dehiscent by 10. rarely 8, apical teeth. Seeds rough, more or less 

 flattened, attached by their edges. [Greek, horny, referring to the horn-like cap- 

 sule of many species.] About 50 species, of wide distribution, most abundant in 

 the temperate zones. 



Petals equalling the sepals, or shorter. 



Pedicels not longer than the sepals ; flowers glomerate. 1. C. viscosum. 

 Pedicels at length longer than the sepals ; flowers cymose. 



Leaves 4-8 mm. long; capsule nearly straight. 2. C. semidecandrum. 



Leaves 8-25 mm. long ; capsule curved upward. 3. C. vulgatum. 



Petals manifestly longer than the sepals (rarely wanting). 

 Annuals, viscid-pubescent ; flowers 4-6 mm. broad. 



Pedicels much longer than the calyx. 4. C. longipedunculatum. 



Pedicels shorter than or but little exceeding the calyx. 



5. C. brachypodum. 

 Perennials, glabrous or pubescent ; flowers 12-20 mm. broad. 

 Styles always 5. 



Leaves linear or lanceolate-oblong, mainly acute. 6. C. arvense. 



Leaves oblong-ovate, obtuse. 7. C. alpinum. 



Styles 3 (very rarely 4 or 5) ; leaves linear-oblong. 8. C. cerastioides. 



1. Cerastium viscosum L. Mouse-ear Chickweed. (I. F. f. 1484.) An- 

 nual, tufted, densely viscid-pubescent, 1-3 dm. high. Leaves ovate, obovate, or 

 the lower spatulate, 8-25 mm. long, obtuse; bracts small, herbaceous; flowers 

 4-6 mm. broad, in glomerate cymes; pedicels shorter than or equalling the acute 

 sepals; petals shorter than the calyx, 2-cleft. In waste places and meadows, 

 N. B. and Ont. to Fla. and Mex. Naturalized from Europe. Naturalized also in 

 the W. I., Cent. Am. and on the Pacific Coast. April-July. 



2. Cerastium semidecandrum L. Small Mouse-ear Chickweed. (I. F. f. 

 1485.) Low, tufted, annual, 5— 15 cm. high, finely viscid-pubescent. Leaves ovate, 

 or the lower spatulate, obtuse; bracts scarious; pedicels at length longer than the 

 calyx; flowers 2-3 mm. broad; sepals lanceolate, acute, slightly exceeding the 

 emarginate petals; capsule narrow, nearly straight; stamens often 5. In dry, 

 sterile soil, N. J. to Va. Naturalized from Europe. April-May. 



3. Cerastium vulgatum L. Larger Mouse-ear Chickweed. (I. F. f. 

 i486.) Biennial or perennial, viscid-pubescent, tufted, 1.5-4.5 dm. long. Lower 

 and basal leaves spatulate-oblong, obtuse ; upper leaves oblong, I-2.5 cm. long ; 

 inflorescence loose, the pedicels at length much longer than the calyx ; sepals 

 about equalling the 2-cleft petals. 4-6 mm. long ; capsule curved upward. In 

 fields and woods, common throughout our area. May-Sept. 



4. Cerastium longipedunculatum Muhl. Nodding Chickweed. Powder- 

 horn. (I. F. f. 1487.) Annual; stem weak, reclining or ascending, 1.5-6 dm. 

 long, striate, finely clammy-pubescent to glabrate. Lower and basal leaves spat- 

 ulate, obtuse, petioled. 1-2.5 dm. l° n g' tne upper lanceolate or oblong, acute, 

 sessile; inflorescence loose; pedicels in fruit several times the length of the calyx ; 

 flowers 4-6 mm. broad ; sepals lanceolate, about one-half the length of the 2-cleft 



