ALSINE 
37 
absent or (in some staminate flowers) subulate. Disc with 5 linear-oblong glands. Stamens 5 — 10, 
absent or rudimentary in some flowers. Stigmas 3 — 5, a third to half as long as the ovary. 
Capsule broadly oval, about as long as the calyx. Seeds few, minute. 
Summits of mountains, chiefly on rock -ddbris where it is locally very abundant ; Perthshire 
to Sutherlandshire ; between 515 and 1215 m. in Perthshire. 
Mountains of central Europe (France, Switzerland, Austria) and of southern Europe (France, 
Spain, Corsica, and Montenegro). Unknown in northern Europe. 
Subgenus III. HONCKENIA 
Honckenia Ehrhart Beitr. ii, 181 (1788) as a genus; HaliantJms Fries Ft. Hall. 75 (1817) nomen, as 
a genus. 
For characters, see page 32. Only British species : — Al. peplo'ides. 
6. ALSINE PEPLOIDES. Sea Purslane. Plate 36 
Anthyllis prior lentifolia peplios effigie maritima Lobel Adver. 195 (1570); Anthyllis lentifolia sen alsine 
cruciata marina Johnson in Gerard Herball ed. 2, 622 (1636); Al. marina portidacae Ray Syn. ed. 3, 351 (1724). 
Alsine peploides Crantz Instit. ii, 406 (1766); Wahlenberg FI. Suec. i, 282 (1826); Arenaria peplo'ides 
L. Sp. PI. 423 (1753)!; Smith Eng. Bot. no. 189 (1784)!; FI. Brit. 477 (1800); Honckenia peploides Ehrhart 
Beitr. ii, 181 (1788); Syme Eng. Bot. ii, 106 (1864); Rouy et Foucaud FI. France iii, 261 (1896); Halianthus 
peploides Fries FI. Halland. 75 (1817) descr. gen. nulla; Minuartia peploides Hiern in Joarn. Bot. xxxvii, 
322 (1899). 
leones: — Eng. Bot. t. 189, as A r. peploides ; FI. Dan. t. 624, as Ar. peploides ; Reichenbach Icon, v, t. 213, 
fig. 3670, as Honkenya peploides. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 36. (a) Flowering branches. ( b ) Fruiting branches, (c) Flowers seen from above 
and below. Isle of Wight (E. W. H.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 1623 et 1623 bis, as Honkenia peploides ; Dickson, x, 10, as Arenaria peploides ; 
Reichenbach, 71, as Halianthus peploides ; Wirtgen, xiii, 735, as H. peploides ; vi, 119, Herb. FI. Ingric., as Ammadenia 
peploides. 
Perennial. Rhizome descending very deeply into the soil, and often creeping very extensively 
just below the surface, stouter than in the allied species or genera. Stems rather stout and 
succulent. Leaves succulent, broadly oval or elliptical, acute and more or less recurved at the tip, 
about 1 *3 cm. long and half as broad. Pedicels about 5 mm. long, stout. Flowers hemi-dioecious, 
about 1 cm. in diameter. Disc large. Sepals oblong, subacute, with a narrow whitish margin. 
Petals oboval, not contiguous, as long as the sepals in the staminate flowers, shorter in the 
pistillate ones. Stamens 10. Stigmas 3 — 5, very short. Capsule subglobose, about 8 mm. in 
diameter, longer than the calyx. Seeds few, large. 
Locally abundant on loose sand dunes and shingle banks, in all the maritime counties of 
the British Isles. 
Faeroes, Iceland, Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France (chiefly northern 
and western), Russia, Spain, Portugal; Asia; North America. 
Tribe IV. S TELLARIEA E 
Stellarieae Tanfani in Parlatore’s Ft. Ital. ix, 466 (1892). 
For characters, see page 14. 
Genera of Stellarieae 
Genus 6. Arenaria (p. 38). Inflorescence dichasial. Petals entire. Stigmas fewer than the 
sepals. Capsules longer than broad. 
Genus 7. Moenchia (p. 42). As in Cerastium , but shoot glabrous and glaucous, and petals 
entire. 
