CERASTIUM 
43 
Annual. Shoot rather glaucous, glabrous. 
2 — io cm. Laminae of the central rosette 
linear, acute, soon withering, up to i cm. 
long and about i mm. broad ; of the branches 
linear, obtuse, in i — 5 pairs. Inflorescence with 
1 — 3 flowers. Bracts leaf-like, acute or very 
acute, scarious at the margin. Pedicels long 
(1 — 3 cm.). Flowers tetramerous, about 
8 — 9mm. in diameter; March to early June. 
Sepals lanceolate, scarious at the margin, very 
acute to acuminate. Petals oblong, entire, a 
little shorter than the sepals. Stamens 4, 
antipetalous. Stigmas very short. Capsules 
cylindrical, ri — 1*4 times as long as the calyx 
teeth scarcely recurved. Seeds punctulate, 
brownish, about 1 mm. long. 
According to Mr R. LI. Praeger (in lift.), Syme’s 
record (op. cit.) of Moenchia erecta for Ireland is an error. 
Locally common in the south of England, 
rare in the north ; dry grassland, banks, sea- 
cliffs, sand-dunes ; on dry gravelly, sandy, or 
light loamy soils ; usually quite lowland, but 
ascending to 360 m. in Carnarvonshire ; from 
the Channel Isles, Cornwall, and Kent to the 
Border. Unknown in Scotland and Ireland. 
Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, 
central Europe, southern Europe; North 
America. An allied species (M. octandra) is 
found in southern Europe, northern Africa, 
and south-western Asia. 
Branches erect or ascending and decumbent, 
Genus 8. Cerastium 
By G. CLARIDGE DRUCE, M.A. 
Cerastium [Dillenius Cat. Giss. 41 (1719);] L. Sp. PL 437 (1753) et Gen. PL ed. 5, 199 (1754) descr. emend. ; 
Villars Hist. Plant. Dauph. i, 226 (1786); Grenier Monogr. (1841); Pax in Engler und Prantl Pfla 7 tzenfam. iii, 
pt. 1 b, 80 (1889); Myosotis [Tournefort Inst. 224, t. 126 (1700);] Moench Meth. Pl. 224 (1794) non [Dillenius 
nec] L. ; Centunculus [Adanson Fam. Pl. ii, 256 (1763) incl. Prevotia'l\ Scopoli Ft. Cam. ed. 2, i, 320 (1772) 
non [Dillenius nec] L. 
Perennial or annual herbs, usually hairy, glandular and eglandular hairs usually present. Leaves 
sessile or almost so ; laminae usually broader and less rigid than in Stellaria. Inflorescence sometimes 
reduced to a single flower. Flowers monoclinous, protandrous, ^-merous (n— 5 or 4). Sepals 
persistent, appressed to the capsule. Petals white, bidentate or bifid, rarely rudimentary or absent. 
Stamens either n + n or n, rarely 3, the antisepalous ones the first to flower. Stigmas n and antipetalous, 
rarely 3 or 4. Capsule longer than broad, usually about twice as long as broad. Seeds 00, tuberculate 
or granulate. 
About 100 species ; cosmopolitan. 
British sections of Cerastium 
Section I. Orthodon (p. 44). Stem with hairs all the way round. Stamens n + n or n + o. 
Stigmas n. Capsule much longer than broad, a little curved. («=5 or 4.) 
Section II. Dichodon (p. 55). Stem with lines of hairs. Stamens n + n. Stigmas n — 2 
(rarely n — 1 or n). Capsule longer than broad, relatively shorter and broader than in Orthodon , 
straight. (^ = 5 or 4.) 
6 — 2 
