Stellabia,] CABTOPHTLLE^. 65 



A glatrona annual, 12-14 in. high. Leaves 1-3 in. long, connate at the 

 base, 3-nerved, acute ; radical oblong ; canline linear-oblong, sessile. 

 Pedicels slender. _ Calyx ^ in. long, tubular, with 5 broad green nerves, 

 ventricose in fruit. Petals obovate, without a basal scale, eroae at the 

 apex, pink. Capsule included, broadly ovoid. Seeds large, globose, black, 

 grantdate. 



A common weed in fields of wheat and hurley, flowering towards the 

 end of the cold season. Disteib. : Throughout India, and in Tibet ; 

 also in Europe, Asia Minor, and Siberia ; and in America and in other 

 countries as a weed of cultivation. This plant possesses medicinal 

 properties similar to those of the European Soapwort (S. officinalis), 

 and the juice of it is used by the natives of India as a substitute for 

 soap. 



2. SILENE, Linn. ; Fl. Br. Ind. i. 217. 



AnnTial or perennial herbs, Flowers solitary or cymose, often 

 second on the branches of the cyme. Calyx more or less inflated, 

 ovoid or tnbtilar, 5-cleft, usually 10-nerved. Petals 5, claw narrow ; 

 limb entire, bifid or laciniate, usually with 2 basal scales. Stamens 

 10, of which 5 are usually adnate to the petals. Disk more or less 

 prolonged into a gynophore. Ovary incompletely 3-celled, rarely 

 1-celled; styles 3, rarely 5 ; ovules numerous. Capsule 3-6-toothed 

 or-valved. Seeds reniform, usually tubercled. — Species chiefly of 

 temperate Europe and Asia. 



S. conoldea, i^inn. 8p. PI. 41S ; Boyle III. 79 ; F. B. I. i, 218. 



An erect dichotomously branched gland-pubescent annual,' 6-18 in. 

 high. Leaves 2-4 in. long ; radical spathulate ; cauline sessile, oblong 

 or lanceolate, acute. Flowers panicled. Calyx 1 in, inflated in fruit, base 

 intruded ; teeth f the length of the tube. Petals small, claw auricled ; 

 limb obovate, entire or erose, pink, with 2 scales at the base- Capsule 

 sessile, ovoid, contracted above, crustaceous, shining. Seeds cochleate 

 with 5 dorsal and as many lateral rows of tubercles. 



Common as a weed in cornfields. Disteib. : Punjab Plain ; W. Himalaya 



up to 8,000 ft. ; westward to the Atlantic Ocean. 



3. STELLARIA, Linn. ; Fl. Br. Ind. i. 229. 



Usually slender herbs. Leaves various. Flowers in dicbotomous 

 cjmaes, rarely solitary and terminal, white. Petals 5, rarely 4 or 0. 

 Stamens usually 10, hypogynous or perigynous. Dish annular or 

 divided into glands. Ovary 1 -rarely 3-celled; styles usually 3 ; 

 ovules many. Capsule short, splitting into as many entire or 2 -fid 

 valves as there are styles. Seeds compressed. — Species of cold and 

 temperate regions. 



