CERASTIUM TETRANDRUM. TETRANDROUS CERASTIUM, 
4 or MoUsrE-EAR-CHICKWEED, 
CERASTIUM. Linn. Gem PL DECANDRIA PENTAGYNIÁ 
Cal. 5-phyllus. Perala e-fida, Caf. 1-locularis apice dehifcens; 
Rai Syr. HERB& PENTAPETALA VASCULIFER A. | 
CERASTIUM m caule diffufo dichotomo, 4loribus plerifque tetrandris, capfula calycem vix 
uperante. : 
SAGINA cerafloides caule diffufo dichotorio; foliis fpatulatis Stovatlive recurvis 
; , pedunculis fruétiferis 
reflexis. Smith: Tranf. Linn. Soc. v. 2. p. 343: | 

RADIX annua, fibrofa. ~~ e i : ROOT annual, and fibrous: n 
 CAULES plures, palmaris et ultra, diffufi, teretes, 9 STALKS numerous, about fix inches in length, fpread- 
villofi, fubvifcidi, purpurafcentes, dichotomi, 3 ing on the ground, round, villous, with fome 
ramofiffimi. ! 
vilcidity, purplifh, dichotomous, and very 
much branched. 
S oppofite, feffile, fomewhat connate, fpread- 
ing, bending back, perfeétly entire, flightly 
hirfute, paler, and lefs hairy on the under 
fide, the lowermoft ovato-lanceolate, the 
uppermoft ovate, and pointed. 
FLOWERS tetrandrous and pentrandrous in the fame 
plant, but. moftly tetrandrous, folitary, from 
the fork of the ftalk, on peduncles. 
PEDUNCLES filiform, vifcid, tumid at the bafe, when 
the flowering 1s over bent back, when the 
feed is ripened becoming upright. 
KO ON 
FOLIA oppofita, feffilia, fubconnata, patenti-recur- ó LEAVE 
vata, integerrima, hirfutula, fubtus pallidiora 6 
et minus hirfuta, inferiora ovato-lanceolata, ad 
bafin anguftiora, fuperiora ovata, acuta. 
FLORES tetrandri et pentandri in eadem planta, 
plerique vero tetrandri, folitarii, e dichotomia 
caulis, pedunculati. 
PEDUNCULI filiformes, vifcidi, ad bafin tumidi, poft 
florefcentiam reflexi, maturato femine fub- 
erecti. 
CALYX; PERIANTHIUM 4-5 phyllum, perfiflens, fo- 
liolis lanceolatis, acuminatis, hirfutulis, vif- 
cidis, duobus paulo anguftioribus, margine 
membranaceis, jig. 1. 
continuing, leaves lanceolate, acuminate, 
flightly hirfute, vifcid, membranous, on the 
edge, two of them fomewhat narrower than 
the others, jig. 1. 
COROLLA: Perat:s four or five, fhorter than. the 
calyx, white, a little gloffy, claws yellowifh, 
flriated, bifid, the lobes ftraight, a little 
| pointed, fg. 2. 
STAMINA: FiLAMENTA 4-5, fubulata, alba, longi- Ó STAMINA: FiLAMzNTS four or five, fubulate, white, 
tudine ftylorum; AN T HER X lutefcentes, fig. 9. the length of the ftyles; AnrHER & yellowifh, 
COROLLA PzrALA 4-5, calyce breviora, alba, niti- 
dula, unguibus flavefcentibus, ftriata, bifida, 
lobis rectis, acutiufculis, fg. 2. 
PISTILLUM: Germen turbinatum, leve, virefcens ; 
STYLI 4-5, erecti, albi, villofuli; SriGMATA 
obtufa, jig. 4. 
PERICARPIUM : Carsura oblonga, calyce paulo 
^ longior, 8-10 dentata, fg. 5, 6. 
ig. 9. UÜ 
PISTILLUM : Germen top-fhaped, fmooth, green- 
ih; Srvrrs four or d upright, white, 
fomewhat villous; SriGMATA blunt, jig. 4. 
SEED-VESSEL : an oblong Carsuzz, a little longer 
than the calyx, having eight or ten teeth, 
T CTORUM NE 
SEEDS numerous, minute, and brown, jg. 7, 8. 
SEMINA plurima, minuta, fufca, fig. 7, 8. 
As the prefent plant, in its general habit and ftructure, fo obvioufly proclaims itfelf to be a Ceraftrum, we were 
furprifed to find that the Prefident of the Linnzan Society had regarded it as a Sag/zz, a genus to which it has 
very little affinity, except in the number of its petals, ftamma, and ftyles ; fuppofing it to be always found, as 
he afferts it is to be, with /forzóur quadrifidis, or, as would have been perhaps more fcientifically exprefled, Hloribus 
tetrapetalis ; but admitting the fact to be fo, which it is not in reality, a difference merely in the number of its 
parts furely would not make it the lefs a Cera/tium; if it would, the /emidecandrum and pumilum, already figured 
in this work, would not be fuch, as they have only half their proper number of ftamina: that the fpecimens 
which Dr. SmirH examined were all tetrandrous we readily believe, and have no doubt but we fhall obtain 
equal credit when we affert, that in the living plant from whence our drawing was made, nearly the fourth part 
of the flowers were pentandrous; in the form and ftruéture of the feed-veffel, a part which forms the ftriking 
" charaé&ter of a Ceraffium, vid. G&RTNER, our plant is not deficient, and the feeds (when magnified) correfpond 
in form with all the others of the genus, wid. fg. 8. 
The flowers of this plant expand, as the influence of the fun is more or lefs powerful, without any regard to: 
the particular time of the day ; after they have been prevented from opening by a wet cloudy day, we have 
feen them expand partially on the fun's fhining on them fo late as feven in the evening: its peduncles, as in 
Alfine, Holoftea, and fome others of the Ceraffiums, bend back when the flowering is over, and become ere& 
s the feed ripens. ; / 
i Bee me difference in the number of its ftamina, this plant differs from /emidecandrum and pumilum, in 
being much larger, and more procumbent; in the latter charaéter it differs wholly from wz/co/um, to which it 
has fome affinity, in the breadth, of its foliage; the mouth of the capfule opens ufually with eight teeth, the 
flower, which has five petals, is found with ten; thofe teeth, when magnified, appear fomewhat truncated, and 
their edges turn back, wd. fig. 6. ; | 
Mr. Dicksox, the fortunate difcoverer of Ceraffiums, found this plant. growing abundantly on the Ifland of 
Inch-Keith in the Firth of Forth, and on the fea-fhore below Prefton-Pans; it 1s not likely that this fpecies, or 
the pumilum, {hould be confined within the narrow limits of growth which we at prefent affign them; as the 
feveral fpecies are more minutely attended to, they will (we may venture to predict) be foundb aundautly 
here. | a 
uM flowers in May and June, and grows readily from feeds, which fhould be fown in Autumn. 
, 
CALYX: a PEeRrANTHiUM of four or five leaves, ^ — 
