166 



CARYOPHYLLACEvE. 



leaves and few long-peduncled purplish-red flowers. Calyx synsepa- 

 lous, ovoid, with 10 strong ribs, the 5 teeth conspicuously prolonged 

 into foliaceous lobes exceeding the five large entire unappendaged 

 petals. Stamens 10. Capsule coriaceous, dehiscent by 5 teeth. 

 (Latin, ager, a field, and stemma, a wreath, the showy flowers in 

 ancient times made into garlands.) 



1. A. Githago L. Corn Cockle. Plants 1£ ft. high; hairs 

 long, ascending or somewhat appressed; leaves 2 to 4 in. long, 1£ 

 lines wide, acute; flowers solitary and long-peduncled; calyx-teeth f 

 to 1 in. or more in length, as long as the tube, and deciduous from 

 the mature fruit; corolla nearly 1 to 1£ in. in diameter; blade of the 

 petals obovate, black-dotted toward the claw, entire. 



European grainfield weed, the occurrence of which in California is 

 occasionally reported. St. Helena. 



4. CERASTIUM L. Mouse-ear Chickweed. 

 Pubescent herbs with exstipulate leaves and white flowers. Cymes- 

 dichotomous with herbaceous or scarious bracts. Sepals 5, distinct. 

 Petals as many, retuse or bifid. Stamens 10 or 5. Styles 5. Capsule 

 elongated, cylindric, often curved, usually exceeding the calyx,, 

 dehiscent at apex by 10 teeth, these erect or spreading. Seeds rough, 

 more or less flattened. (Greek, keras, a horn, in allusion to the- 

 elongated curved capsules. ) 



Annual; petals about equaling the sepals 1. C. viscosum. 



Perennial; petals about twice as long as sepals 2. C. arvense. 



1. C. viscosum L. Mouse-ear Chickweed. Erect, 3 to 4 in. 

 high, pilose-hirsute and somewhat glandular, especially on the calyx- 

 leaves ovate to elliptic-oblong, sessile, slightly connate, 7 to 12 lines 

 long; pedicels mostly shorter than the flowers; calyx divided nearly 

 to the base into 5 sepals; petals equaling or distinctly shorter than 

 the sepals, oblong, bifid at apex, 2 lines long; stamens 10, one or 

 more with reduced or abortive anthers, or sometimes only 5 with 

 anthers, the other 5 represented by mere scale-like filaments; capsule 

 tubular, the slightly curved apex contracted, much exceeding the 

 calyx, 3 ^ lines long; seeds numerous, minutely muriculate. 



Common in fields and by roadsides. Mar.-Apr. Native of 

 Europe. 



2. C. arvense L. Field Chickweed. Pubescent throughout; 

 stems several from a decumbent base, very leafy at base, nearly naked 

 above, 5 to 9 in. long; leaves linear, acute, the upper 1 to 1J in. long, 

 the lowermost often but half as long; cyme contracted, bearing 

 1 to 5 flowers; sepals lj to 2\ lines long, scarious-margined; petals 

 usually twice as long as the calyx, obcordate, deeply notched; capsule 

 scarcely exceeding the calyx. 



Near the coast: San Francisco Peninsula and Marin Co. Apr.- 

 May. Var. maximum Hollick & Britton. (C. pilosum Brew. & 

 Wats, not Ledeb.) Stout, tall, 1 to 2 ft. high; leaves elongated ; 

 inflorescence very spreading; capsule equaling to nearly twice the 

 length of the calyx. — Point Reyes. 



