44 
WILD FLOWERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
as long as the sepals, notched ; stamens io ; 5 styles ; and a straight capsule, as long as or a little 
longer than the sepals. The stems 6-10 inches high, much branched from the base, and clothed 
with hairs sometimes tipped with glands ; the leaves narrowly oblong or strap-shaped. [Plate 24. 
Not common. Dry fields and banks. April — August. Perennial. 
Stitehwort Mouse-ear Chiekweed. (Cerastium trigynum, Vill.) — Flowers about 
\ inch across, white, on rather long slender stalks, 1-3 in a cluster, with 5 narrow blunt sepals, 
with broad membranous margins; 5 notched petals, twice as long as the sepals; 10 stamens; 
usually 3 styles ; and a straight capsule, | longer than the sepals, opening with twice as many teeth 
as there are styles. Stems 4-8 inches long, prostrate, slender, with a line of minute hairs changing 
from side to side at each joint (node) ; the leaves being narrow, small, rather fleshy, and smooth. 
Very rare. In moist places on high mountains in Scotland. July — August. Perennial. 
STITCHWORT. (STELLARIA, LINN.) —Flowers w r hite, in terminal forked clusters, the central 
flower opening first (dichotomous cymes). Sepals 5, very pointed, not united (free) ; petals 5, 
deeply notched; stamens 10, rarely 5 or fewer; carpels 3, rarely 5, uniting into a i-celled 
seedcase and separating into 3, rarely 5 styles. Fruit a many-seeded i-celled capsule, roundish, 
straight, opening from the top half way down by twice as many teeth as there are styles, about as 
long as the sepals. Herbs, usually without hairs, with the leaves often grass-like, and with the 
stems swollen at the joints (nodes). 
Water Stitehwort or Chiekweed. (Stellaria aquatica, Scop.)— Flowers about \ inch 
across, white, very numerous, stalked, in forked clusters (dichotomous cymes). The sepals 5, 
lance-shaped, with broad white membranous margins ; the petals 5, deeply notched, about J 
longer than the sepals; the stamens 10; the styles 5; and the capsule egg-shaped, drooping, 
longer than the sepals, opening from the top to the middle by 10 teeth, i-celled and many- 
seeded. The stems 1-3 feet long, much-branched and straggling, angular, brittle, and covered 
with gland-tipped hairs ; the leaves stalked and broadly egg-shaped or heart-shaped at the base, 
the uppermost without stalks. 
Not common. By the sides of streams, ditches, and wet places in England as far north as York- 
shire. July — August. Perennial. 
Wood Stitehwort. (Stellaria nemorum, Linn.)— A very similar species to the last, 
differing in having larger flowers, f inch across, on longer, very slender stalks, in looser, much- 
branched clusters (dichotomous cymes) ; the sepals with narrow white membranous margins ; the 
petals twice as long as the sepals ; the styles only 3 ; the capsule abftut as long as the sepals and 
opening by 6 teeth ; the stems 1-2 feet high ; and the lower leaves on long stalks, with fewer 
jointed hairs. 
Not common. In woods and shady places, chiefly in northern and western England and 
southern Scotland. May — August. Perennial. 
Common Chiekweed. (Stellaria media, Cyr.)— A very variable species divided into 
several varieties. Flowers small, white, and numerous, solitary on long stalks in the axils of the 
leaves, forming forked clusters. Sepals 5, hairy, with narrow membranous margins ; petals 5, 
deeply notched, shorter than the sepals, or absent; stamens 3, 5, or 10; styles 3; capsule oval, 
drooping, a little longer than the sepals, opening by 6 teeth, 1 -celled and many-seeded. The 
stem 6-18 inches long, much branched, weak, and smooth, with the exception of a line of hairs 
alternating from side to side ; the leaves egg-shaped and pointed, without hairs, the upper without 
stalks and the lower stalked. [Plate 24. 
Very common. Everywhere. March — November. Annual. 
