Stellaria. | XII. CARYOPHYLLACEL. 73 
the capsule opening in 5 valves, which are entire or shortly bifid, seldom 
deeply cleft as in the other Stellarie. Stems weak, often a foot or more 
long. Lower leaves small, on long stalks, upper ones more sessile or 
stem-clasping, often 1 to 2 inches long, thin and flaccid, with a pro- 
minent midrib, and very pointed. Flowers in the forks of leafy cymes, 
the pedicels turned down after flowering. Sepals about 2 lines long at the 
time of flowering, enlarged when in fruit. Petals narrow, deeply cleft, 
about one half longer than the calyx. Malachiwm aquaticum, Fries. ~ 
In wet places, along ditches and streams, &c., very widely diffused 
over Hurope, and Russian and central Asia, except the extreme north, 
and migrating with man to several other parts of the world. Not 
common in Britain, and not occurring south of Yorkshire and Cheshire. 
Fl. summer. The flowers have occasionally, but seldom, only 3 styles. 
2. S. nemorum, Linn. (fig. 165). Wood S.—Rootstock creeping, of 
some years’ duration. Stems weak, emitting creeping branches from 
the base, the flowering branches ascending to 6 inches or a foot, with 
a few short spreading hairs. Leaves heart-shaped, pointed, of a thin 
texture, usually glabrous or slightly ciliated on the edges, the lower 
ones small, on long stalks, the upper 1 to 2 inches long, with much 
shorter stalks or nearly sessile. Flowers in elegant, loose, spreading 
cymes, on long, slender pedicels, with small bracts at their base. 
Sepals about 3 lines, the petals nearly twice as long, narrow, and 
deeply cleft. Styles 3. Capsule straight, opening to near the base 
into 3 bifid or 6 entire valves, 
In moist woods, throughout northern Europe and the hilly districts 
of central, and some parts of southern Europe, and across Russian 
Asia to western North America. In Britain, chiefly in northern and 
western England and southern Scotland. Not recorded from Ireland. 
Fl. summer. 
3. S. media, Cyrill. (fig. 166). Chickweed.—A weak, much branched 
- annual, glabrous, with the exception of a line of hairs down one side of 
the stem, and a few long ones on the leafstalks. Leaves small, ovate 
and pointed, the lower ones stalked and often heart-shaped, the upper 
sessile and narrower. Flowers small, on rather long, slender pedicels, 
in irregularly forked leafy’cymes. Petals shorter than the calyx, deeply 
cleft, with narrow, slightly diverging lobes. Stamens often only 5. 
Styles 3. 
In cultivated and waste places, roadsides, and edges of streams 
throughout Europe and northern Asia, and carried out as a weed to 
all the temperate and colder regions of the globe. Abundant in 
Britain. Fl. the whole season. [There are two varieties: S. media 
proper, with obtusely tubercled seeds; S. wmbrosa, Opitz, with these 
acutely tubercled. ] 
4, S. uliginosa, Murr. (fig. 167). Bog S.—A weak, slender, glabrous 
annual, in some measure intermediate between S. media and S. graminea. 
Stems usually about 6 inches, rarely near a foot long, much shorter 
and tufted when on dry ground. Leaves much narrower than in S. 
media, but much shorter and broader than in S. graminca, oblong or 
lanceolate. Flowers small, in loose, slender, forked panicles, which, 
as in S. graminea, soon become lateral. Sepals about 14 lines long. 
Petals shorter, with very narrow spreading lobes. Styles 8. 
In marshes and wet ditches, widely spread over Europe, Russian 
