Cerdstium .~\ xiv. caryophyllaceac : alsineje. 71 
tremity. — Name given in compliment to Conrad Mcench, Pro- 
fessor of Botany at Hesse Cassel. 
1. M. erecta Sm. ( upright 71/,). Sagina L. : E. B. t. 609. 
Pastures in England, in a gravelly soil. ©. 5, 6. — Stem 2 — 4 
inches high, erect or frequently a little reclining at the base, glabrous 
as well as the leaves, which are opposite, linear-lanceolate, acute, rigid, 
glaucous. Sepals large, acuminate, white and membranous at the 
margin. Pet. lanceolate, as long as the calyx. Caps, as in Cerastium. 
15. Cerastium Linn. Mouse-ear Chickweed. 
Cal. of 5 sepals. Pet. 5, cloven. Stain. 10. Styles 5. Caps. 
bursting at the top with 10 equal teeth. — Named (icrpnc, a horn) 
from the rather long and curved capsules of some species. 
* Annual or biennial. Petals not longer than the calyx. 
1. C. vulgatum L. ( broad-leaved M.) ; hairy nearly erect 
viscid above, leaves ovate, bracteas herbaceous, petals as long 
as the calyx about half the length of the curved capsule, flowers 
mostly subcapitate, calyces oblong longer than their pedicels. 
E. B. t. 789. C. gloraeratum Thuil. 
Fields, pastures, and road-sides, common. 0. 4 — 9. — Stem 6 — 10 
inches high, branched below, dichotomous above. Flowers at first 
! subcapitate, afterwards occasionally in dichotomous panicles. Petals 
narrow, bifid, sometimes wanting. Caps, cylindrical, curved up- 
wards. 
2. C. viscosum L. ( narrow-leaved M.) ; leaves oblong-lan- 
ceolate, stem hairy viscid spreading, lower bracteas herbaceous 
upper ones with narrow membranous margins, flowers at first 
almost fascicled afterwards in elongated dichotomous cymes, 
calyx about as long as the pedicel and the corolla, about half the 
length of the curved fruit. E. B. t. 790. C. triviale Link. 
Pastures and waste places, wall-tops, &c. $ or 0. FI. 
Spring and Summer. — Much resembling the last, but a larger, coarser, 
and spreading plant, with longer and narrower leaves; calyces shorter 
than their footstalks in general, especially when in fruit. Judging 
from the figure, C. pumilum Curtis Flora Lond., seems but the pen- 
tandrous or early-flowering state of this species. 
3. C. semidecundrum L. (little M.) ; leaves ovate or oblong, 
stem hairy viscid suberect simple bearing a few-flowered cyme, 
upper half of all the bracts and the sepals membranous, calyx 
scarcely shorter than the pedicel about twice as long as the 
petals shorter than the fruit. E. B. t. 1630. 
Dry waste places in sandy soil, on wall-tops, &c., frequent. 0 
3. — 5. — This displays itself, as Sir J. E. Smith well observes, in 
early spring, on every wall, and withers away before the C. viscosum 
