( 286 .) 
CERA'STIUM* * 
Linnean Class and Order. DECA'NDRtAf, Pentagy'nia. 
Nat&ral Order. Caryophy'lleajJ, Linn. — Juss. Gen. PI. p. 
299. — Sm. Gram, of Bot. p. 159. — Lindl. Syn. p. 43. ; Introd. to 
Nat. Syst. of Bot. p. 156. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 507. — Loud. 
Hort. Brit. p. 501. — Don’s Gen. Syst. of Gard. and Bot. v. i. p. 
379. — Mack. FI. Hibern. p. 40. — Rosales ; subord. Rhceados^e ; 
sect. Dianthin,e; type, Dianthace.e ; Burn. Outl. of Bot. pp. 
614, 784, S05, & 807. 
Gen. Char. Calyx (figs. 1 & 2.) inferior, of 5, egg-spear- 
shaped, pointed, spreading, permanent sepals, membranous at the 
edges. Corolla (fig. 3.) of 5, divided, obtuse, spreading petals, 
about the length of the calyx, (sometimes longer,) with broad, very 
short, claws (see fig. 4). Filaments (fig. 5.) 10, 5, or 4, thread- 
shaped, shorter than the corolla ; alternate ones shortest. Anthers 
roundish, 2-lobed. Germen (see figs. 5 & 6.) egg-shaped, superior, 
sessile. Styles (see fig. 6,) 5, rarely but 4, short. Stigmas bluntish, 
downy. Capsules (figs. 7 & 8.) membranous, cylindrical or egg- 
shaped, of 1 cell, opening with twice as many upright teeth as there 
are styles. Seeds (fig. 2.) numerous, roundish, rough. Flowers of 
all white. 
Distinguished from other genera, in the same class and order, 
by the calyx of 5 sepals ; the corolla of 5 cloven petals ; and the 
1-celled, many-seeded capsule. 
Eight species British. 
CERA'STIUM ARVE'NSE. Field Chickweed. 
Spec. Char. Leaves strap-spear-shaped, bluntish ; fringed at 
the base. Petals twice as long at the calyx. Capsule oblong, 
scarcely longer than the calyx. 
Engl. Bot. t. 93. — Curt. FI. Loud. t. — Curt. Brit. Entom. v. vi. t. 254. — Linn. 
Sp. PI. p. 628. — Huds. FI. Angl. (2nded. ) p. 201. — Willd. Sp. PI. v. ii. pt. I. p. 
813. — Sm. FI. Brit. v. ii. p. 499, ; Engl. FI. v. ii. p. 333. — With. (7th ed. ) v. ii. 
p. 566. — Lightf, FI. Scot. v. i. p. 241. — Sibth. FI. Oxon. p. 147. — Ahb. FI. Bedf. 
p. 102. — Purt, Mid. FI. v. i. p. 220. ; and v. iii. p. 359. — Relh. FI. Cant. (3rded.) 
p. 185. — Hook. Fl. Scot. p. 143. — Grev. FI. Edin. p. 104. — Johnst. FI. Berwick, 
v. i. p. 102. — Don’s Gen. Syst. of Gard. and Bot. v. i. p. 446. — Walker’s Fl. of 
Gxf. p. 130.— Mack. Catal. of PI. of Irel. p. 45 ; Fl. Hibeni. p. 49. — Stelldria 
arvensis, Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 660. — Cary ophy' llus arvensis hirsutus flore 
majore , Ray’s Syn. p. 348. — Caryophy'llus Holostius, Johns. Ger. p. 595. 
Localities. — In fields, and on banks and hillocks, on a gravelly or chalky 
soil ; frequent. — Oxfordsh. Between the Parks and Wolvercot; Stanton Har- 
court ; and between \\ itney and Burford : Dr. Sibthorp. Road crossing the 
Hundred Acres, Bullingdon: Rev. R. Walker, B. D. Between Elsfield and 
Noke Lane ; at the back of the Red Lion, in Stow Wood, near Oxford ; and 
Fig. 1. Calyx. — Fig. 2. Calyx, Stamens, and Pistils. — Fig. 3. Corolla. — Fig. 4. A 
Petal. — Fig. 5. Stamens, Germen, aud Pistils. — Fig. 6. Germen, Styles, and Stig- 
mas. — Fig. 7. Capsule. — Fig. 8. A vertical section of the same, showing the central 
placenta or receptacle of the Seeds. — Fig. 9. Seeds. — Figs. 2 & 4 a little magnified. 
* From keras, Gr. a horn ; from the rather long and curved capsules of some 
species. Sir W. J. Hooker. 
•f See folio 37, note t. 
t See Buffonia annua, folio 152, a. 
