68 xiv. CARYOrn yllacevE : ALSINEA2. \_Malachium . 
8. A. serpyllifolia L. (Thyme-leaved S.)\ leaves ovate acute 
subscabrous sessile, calyx hairy its outer sepals 5-ribbed about 
as long as the corolla. E. B. t. 923. 
Walls and dry waste places, frequent. ©. 6 — 8. — Stems 2 — 6 
inches in length, erect or procumbent, much branched, pubescent. 
Leaves small, rather rigid. Flowers white, on short stalks, from the 
forkings of the upper part of the stem or the axils of the leaves. 
Petals as long as the calyx. — Mr. W. Wilson finds a var. at Bangor, 
with 5 stamens, and the petals only j as long as the calyx, which has 
prominent ribs. 
9. A. trinervis L. ( three-nerved S.) ; leaves ovate acute pe- 
tiolate 3- (rarely 5-)nerved ciliated, flowers solitary, sepals rough 
on the keel with three obscure ribs, hilum of the seeds with an 
appendage. E. B. t. 1483. Moehringia Clairv. 
Shady woods and moist places. 0. 5, 6. — Stems 1 ft. high, much 
branched, pubescent. Upper leaves sessile. Flower-stalks an inch or 
more long, from the forkings of the extremities of the stem ; in fruit 
spreading, the upper part deflexed. Petals oblong-ovate, white, 
scarcely longer than the acute segments of the calyx. Distinguished 
from all the other known species by the seeds; on which account it 
has been placed in Moehringia, along with M. muscosa, — a most unna- 
tural conjunction. 
11. Malachium Fries. Mouse-ear Chickweed. 
Sep. 5. Pet. 5, deeply cloven. Siam. 10. Styles 5, alternate 
with the sepals. Caps, opening with 5 valves opposite to the 
sepals, each bifid at the apex, many-seeded. — Named from 
yaXaicog, soft or feeble, from the nature of the plant. 
1. M. aqudlteum Fr. (Water M.~). Cerastium L. : E. B. t. 
538. 
Sides of rivers and ditches, throughout England, from the Isle of 
Wight to Yorkshire, but not common. If. 7, 8. — Stems 1 — 2 ft. 
long, angular, dichotomously branched and straggling, viscid upwards. 
Leaves cordate-ovate, acuminate, with short scattered hairs on their 
surface and margin ; upper ones sessile, lower ones only petiolate. 
Flowers solitary in the forks of the stein. Capsule longer than the 
calyx. “ Seeds beautifully marked with close papillae with stellate 
bases : ” Bromf. Very similar to Stellaria nemorum, which however 
differs by the fewer styles, the 6 equal valves to the capsule, and the 
leaves usually hairy only on the margin. 
12. Stellaria Linn. Stitchwort. 
Sep. 5. Pet. 5, deeply cloven. Slam. 10. Styles 3. Caps. 
opening witli 6 valves, many-seeded. — Named from stella, a 
star; because the corolla spreads in a star-shaped manner. 
1. S. nemorum L. ( Wood S.) ; leaves petiolate cordate, upper 
ones ovate sessile, panicle dichotomous. E. B. t. 92. 
