MOUSE-EAR. — CORN MOUSE-EAR. 



29 



raneoiis flowing waters or springs. It is a troublesome weed, 

 and difficult to extirpate. The produce of seeds being small, 

 the chief attention must be directed to the destruction of the 

 root, by the ploughings of the land being executed deeply 

 with a narrow furrow, and with sharp irons on the plough, 

 in order that the roots may not escape being cut. 



23. The ''Mouse-ear," or the "Cerastium" of botany, is 

 often found infesting light soils. It has somewhat the habit 

 of " chickweed," but is of a duller appearance. 



It belongs to the class and order '' Decandria Pentagynia" 

 of Linneus, and the natural order " Caryophyllese" of 

 Jussieu. 



Generic character, — Calyx : perianth five-leaved, leaf- 

 lets ovate-lanceolate, acute, spreading, permanent. Corolla : 

 petals five, bifid, obtuse, erect, expanding, length of the calyx- 

 Stamina : filaments ten, filiform, shorter than the corolla, 

 the alternate ones shorter; anthers roundish. Pistil: germ 

 ovate; styles five, capillary erect, length of the stamens. 

 Stigmas obtuse. Pericarp : capsule ovate, cylindric or glob- 

 ular, obtuse, unilocular, gaping with a five-toothed tip. Seeds 

 very many, roundish. 



Essential character. — Calyx five-leaved ; petals bifid ; 

 capsule unilocular, gaping at the tip ; orifice toothed. 



The '' Corn mouse-ear," or the '' Cerastium arvense," has 

 the root perennial, creeping. Stems four or five inches high, 

 decumbent, forming thick tufts, pubescent. Leaves hnear- 

 lanceolate, often densely pubescent, sometimes only ciliated 

 at the base. Flowers large, white-leaflets of the calyx egg- 

 shaped, obtuse, scarious at the edges ; petals heart-shaped, 

 veined. Capsule cylindrical, straight, the length of the calyx- 

 orifice, with ten teeth. 



This weed grows chiefly on gravelly and chalky soils. 

 Nature has provided annual plants with an abundance of 

 seeds, whereby to propagate their kind ; and perennial plants 

 have the property of propagation chiefly in the roots ; and 

 some plants are provided very largely with both qualities. In 

 the eradication of perennial plants, where the roots are so 

 very ready to catch hold of life, the most effectual method 



