XV. LJNACEA5. 
73 
Cerastium .] 
then erect, 3 — 5 inches high. Leaves sometimes lanceolate. Flowers 
large, handsome, white. Petals bifid at the point. “ Seeds small, 
acutely tubercled.” H. Watson. — The more glabrous form is the 
C. alpinum of the French botanists, while the silky one is the C. 
tomentosum Lam. 
7. C. latifolium Sm. : L. ? ( broad-leaved alpine C.) ; subgla- 
brous or clothed with short rigid yellowish pubescence, stems 
prostrate cmspitose, leaves elliptical-ovate, branches mostly 
single-flowered, bracteas herbaceous, capsule cylindrical oblong 
nearly straight. E. B. t. 473. 
Mountains of Wales ; Clogwyn y Garnedd, and Clogwyn du’r 
arrdhu, Snowdon, but rare. Ben Lomond, Ben Nevis, Ben Ghlo, 
&c., in Scotland. If.. 5 — 8. — Never clothed with long white hairs, 
of a deeper green than C. alpinum, sometimes almost glabrous. The 
stems are dichotomous and bare of leaves below, and much buried 
under rocks and stones. Flowers solitary, rarely 2, terminal on the 
branches ; when more than one the bracteas are generally oval and 
foliaceous. “ Seeds large, rugose.” H. Watson. A dwarf variety 
occurs in Unst, Shetland. We agree with Mr. W. Wilson in think- 
ing that there exists scarcely any difference either in flower or 
fruit between this and the preceding. In both, the capsules are 
broadly oblong, shining, almost twice as long as the calyx, and nearly 
straight. 1 
8. C. trigynum Vill. ( Stitchwort C .) ; stems decumbent with 
an alternate hairy line, leaves oblong-spathulate, peduncles 2 
or 3 mostly terminal downy, styles mostly 3. Stellaria ceras- 
toides L . ; E. B. t. 911. 
Breadalbane mountains of Scotland, and mountains to the north 
of that great range. Near Bantry, Ireland. 7/.. 7, 8. — Stem 4 — 6 
inches long, the lower part bare of leaves, and much branched. 
Leaves glabrous or hairy, subsecund and subfalcate, as observed by 
Wahlenberg; their points callous. Flowers large, pure white. Sir 
J. E. Smith states that the styles are sometimes 4 or 5 ; and the 
capsules, in our specimens, have usually 6, but some 8 or 10 teeth. 
Ord. XV. LINACEiE Be Cand. 
Sepals 4 — 5, imbricated in aestivation, persistent. Petals 
4 — 5, with a twisted aestivation, very fugacious. Stamens 4 — 5, 
united at the base into an hypogynous ring, with small teeth 
(abortive stamens) between them. Ovary with 3 — 5 cells, and 
1 Mr. Bentiiam is of opinion that “ the C. latifolium of the Alps of central 
Europe is not a British plant.” He here alludes to C. glaciate Gaud., the C. lati- 
folium of Seringe in De Candolle’s Prodrotnus. C. I at /folium of Linn sens is 
attended with difficulty ; in his specific character, *• folns ovatis subtomentosis, 
ram is subunifloris, capsulis globosis,” the first is most allied to C. g/acia/e , the 
form of the leaves and inflorescence agree with C latifolium Sm., but the clothing 
of the leaves seems to indicate C alpinum. Linnaeus refers under C. alpinum , 
and C. latifolium to Wulfen, but both of Wulfen’s are described with elongated 
capsules, and appear to be our British ones. Haller’s two species, No. 887 and 888 
are likewise either these, or the two forms of C. alpinum. 
E 
