CARYOPHYLLACE^. 



121 



5. Thyme-leaved Sandwort. Arenaria serpyllifolia, Linn. 

 (Fig. 152.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 923.) 



A very much branched, slender, and 

 slightly downy annual, seldom attaining 

 6 inches. Leaves very small, ovate and 

 pointed. Pedicels from the upper axils 

 or forks of the stem, 2 or 3 lines long, 

 and slender. Sepals pointed, about 1^ 

 lines long. Petals usually much shorter, 

 but variable in size, obovate. Capsule 

 opening in 6 short narrow valves. 



On walls and dry sands, or stony, 

 waste places, throughout Europe and 

 central and Russian Asia, except the 

 extreme north. Common in Britain, 

 but more so in the south than in the 

 north. Fl. summer. 



Fig. 152. 



6. Fringed Sandwort. Arenaria ciliata, Linn. (Fig. 153.) 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1745.) 



Stems perennial at the base, short, dif- 

 fuse, generally much branched and mat- 

 ted, the flowering branches 2 or 3 inches 

 high, and more or less downy. Leaves 

 small and ovate, more distinctly stalked 

 than in the thyme-leaved S., veined un- 

 derneath, and usually fringed with a few 

 stiff hairs on each edge near the base. 

 Flowers much larger than in the last 

 species, on slender pedicels, 3 to 6 lines 

 long, the obovate petals considerably 

 longer than the sepals. Capsule opening 

 in 6 valves. 



In mountain pastures, in northern and 

 Arctic Europe, and at considerable ele- 

 vations, in the higher ranges of central 

 and southern Europe. In Britain, only 



VOL. I. 



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