72 
XIV. CARY0IT1YLLACE.E : ALSINEyE. [ CcfUStium. 
begins to put forth its far less conspicuous blossoms. Leaves usually 
hairy, sometimes glabrous. Stamens usually 5, often 4, occasionally 
10. Fruit more or less curved, variable in length from a little longer 
than the calyx to twice as long. 
4. C. tetrandrum Curt. ( four-cleft M.) ; leaves ovate or ob- 
long, stem hairy and somewhat viscid dichotomous with flowers 
in the forks, the whole a leafy cyme, lower bracteas herbaceous 
some of the uppermost and the sepals with a narrow membra- 
naceous margin, calyx rather longer than the petals 1 4 — 4 times 
shorter than the pedicels, fruit usually the length of the calyx 
rarely a little longer. C. atrovirens Bab: C. peduneulatum 
Bab. Sagina cerastoides E. B. t. 166. 
Waste ground, walls, and sandy places, especially near the sea. 
On the east coast of England (Yarmouth), the south (Sussex), and 
in Wales. About Edinburgh, banks of the Tweed, l.anark, Campsie, 
Ayr, &c. Howth, Ireland. ©. 5 — 7. — Stamens 4 or rarely 5, never, 
so far as we have seen, more numerous. Flowers usually 4-cleft. 
“ Petals inversely heart-shaped, shorter than the taper- pointed calyx 
which is nearly as long as the capsule.” Sm. — In comparing this 
and the preceding species, it may be proper to state that bv the lowest 
bracteas we mean the pair of leaves at that fork where the first pedicel 
appears : in the three species already noticed the bracteas become 
suddenly smaller, whereas in C. tetrandrum they remain about as large 
as the leaves, and similar to them, after the cyme has been repeatedly 
forked. Mr. Bentham is of opinion that, all of this section are mere 
varieties of one species. 
* * Perennial. Petals longer than the calyx. 
5. C. arvense L. ( Field C .) ; leaves linear-lanceolate, sepals 
somewhat acute, bracteas membranaceous at the margins and 
apex, petals twice as long as the calyx. — a. pubescens ; leaves j 
pubescent especially at the base. E. B. t. 93. — 13. strictum ; 
stem and leaves glabrous. 
Dry, sandy, and gravelly places; less frequent in Scotland. — )3. 
Arran, Ireland. If. 4 — 8. — Stems much branched and decumbent 
at the base, a span long, slender. Flowers large, pure white, 2 or 8 
on terminal stalks. Capsule scarcely longer than the calyx. Seeds 
small, acutely tubercled. 
6. C. alpinum L. {hairy alpine C .) ; subglabrous or clothed 
with long white soft silky hairs, stem ascending, leaves elliptical 
ovate or oblong, panicle dichotomous few-flowered, bracteas 
herbaceous with usually a narrow membranaceus margin, 
capsule cylindrical-oblong slightly curved. E. B. t. 472. C. 
latifolium, Light/. Scot. i. p. 242. t. 9. 
Frequent on the Highland mountains of Scotland. Slriden 
Edge, Helvellyn, England. Very rare in Wales, and not now to be 
found on Snowdon. If. 6— 8. — Much branched below and creeping 
