66 CABYOPKYLLEJE. [Stbllaeia. 



S. media. Cyrill. Char. Corrnn. 36. F. B. Li. 280; Watt E. D. 

 (Commn Chickweed.) 



Annnal. Stems 6 in. to 2 ft. long-, decumbent, mnch-branched, glabrous 

 except for a line of hairs, flaccid, green. Leaves ^-1 in. long * lower 

 petioled, ovate or cordate, acuminate ; upper sessile, lanceolate. Flowers 

 hi in. in diam., axillary and in terminal cymes, pedicels slender, glabrous 

 or gland-pubescent. Sepals free to the base, obtuse or subacute, hairy 

 glandular or covered with raised points. Petals shorter than the sepals 

 or 0. Stamens 3-10. Styles 3. Capsule ovoid, longer thansthe sepals. 

 Seeds brown, acutely tubercled. 



A common weed. Disteib. : Punjab, Eajputana, Bengal ; Himalaya up 

 to 12,000 ft. ; Arctic and N. Temperate regions. 



4. ARENARIA, Linn. ; El. Brit. Ind. i. 235. 



Annual or perennial often tufted herbs. Flowers solitary or in dicho- 

 tomoas cvroes. Sepals 5. Petals 5, rarely 0, never 2'"fid. or 2-partite 

 Stamens usually 10, hypogynous or inserted on the perigynous disk. 

 Ovary 1-celled ; styles usually 3-4 ; ovules many. Capsule shorty 

 rarely exceeding the sepals, 2-6 valved. Seeds smooth or tubercled- 

 — Natives of cold and temperate regions. 



A. serpyllifolia, Linn. 8p. PI. 423 ; F. B. I. 239. 



Annual. Branches many from the root, 2-10 in., decumbent or suberect,, 

 pubescent all round. Leaves J-g- in., subsessile, ovate, acuminate, 1-3- 

 nerved, rigid, ciliate. Cymes many-flowered. Bracts leaf-like. Flowers 

 ^ in. across : pedicels slender, erect or spreading in fruit. Sepals 

 ovate lanceolate, much exceeding the petals, 3-5-ribbed, pubescent. 

 Capsule\6-r aired, ovoid, about as long as the sepals. Seeds tubercled. 



Dehra Dun, Saharanpur, Eohilkhand. Distrib. : Punjab Plain, Hima- 

 laya from Nepal to Kashmir, up to 11,000 feet, extending through 

 Afghanistan to Europe. 



5. SPERGULA, Linn. ; Fl, Brit. Ind. i. 243. 



Annual or perennial herbs with forked or fascicled branches. Leaves 

 opposite, often with leafy buds in their axils, hence apparently 

 ■whorled. Stipules small, scarious. Flowers in peduncled panicled 

 cymes. Sepals 5. Petals 5, entire. Stamens 5 or 10, inserted on a 

 perigynous disk. Ovary 1-celled; styles 3 or 5 ; ovules many. 

 Capsule with 3 or 5 entire valves. Seeds compressed, margined or 

 winged. 



