CERASTIUM 
55 
Exsiccata : — Herb. Druce, 468, 7804; Rel. Maill. 937, as C. semidecandrum. 
Shoot much taller than in var. friesianum , densely glandular at least above, yellowish green 
Leaves rather larger. Pedicels 3 — 4 times as long as the calyx. Petals a little shorter than the 
calyx. Capsules 1*5 — 2 - o times as long as the calyx. Seeds minutely and obtusely punctulate. 
Dry, sandy or calcareous-sandy, loose soils, including sand-dunes ; local, as in Kent, Suffolk, Berkshire, 
Oxfordshire, and doubtless elsewhere. 
Germany, France, Austria, southern Russia, Sicily. 
Sand-dunes and grassy places near the sea, sea-cliffs, dry grassy heaths and commons, broken 
limestone ground, calcareous grassland, dry banks and walls, arable land ; preferring dry, light, 
and sandy, and calcareous soils ; locally abundant in lowland situations from the Channel Isles, 
Cornwall, and Kent to Caithness-shire ; more local in Ireland ; a lowland species, ascending to 
350 m. in Derbyshire and co. Derry. 
Southern Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, central Europe, Russia, 
southern Europe; northern Africa; southwestern Asia; North America (not indigenous). 
Section II. DICHODON 
Dichodon Koch Syn. 118 (1837) sub Stellaria ; Boissier FI. Orient, i, 713 (1867); Rouy et Foucaud, 
FI. France iii, 222 (1896). 
This section connects the two genera Cerastium and Stellaria. 
For characters, see page 43. Only British species : — C. cerastioides. 
9. CERASTIUM CERASTIOIDES. Plate 52 
Cerastium cerastioides Britton in Mem. Torr. Bot. Club V, 150 (1894); Stellaria cerastioides L. Sp. 
PL 422 (1753)!; Smith FI. Brit. 477 (1800)! ; C. lapponicum Crantz Inst, ii, 402 
(1766); H. and J. Groves in Babington Man. ed. 9, 66 (1904); C. trigynum 
Villars Prospect. 48 (1779); Hist. PI. Dauph. iii, 645, t. 46 (1789); Syme Eng. 
Bot. ii, 90 (1864); Rouy et Foucaud FI. France iii, 223 (1896); C. refractum 
Allioni Ft. Pedem. ii, 1 1 7 (1785). 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 91 1, as Stellaria cerastioides ; Svensk Bot. 
t. 744, as St. cerastioides-, Reichenbach Icon, v, t. 221, fig. 4915, as Dichodon 
cerastioides. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 52. (a) Plant in flower, (b) Petal. ( c ) Ovaries 
(one enlarged), a — c from Switzerland (E. W. H.). (d) Shoot with ripening 
fruit, (e) Barren branch. (/) Portion of stem (enlarged), (g) Fruit. ( h ) Seeds 
(enlarged), d — h from Ben Avon (E. S. M.). 
Exsiccata: — Billot, 3538, as Stellaria cerastioides ; Bourgeau (Pyr. Esp.), 
232, as St. cerastioides ; Dickson, ii, 11, as St. cerastioides ; Fellman, 56, as 
St. cerastioides-, Fiori, Beguinot, et Pampanini ( FI . Ital.), 45, as C. trigynum ; 
Fries, vii, 35, as C. trigynum ; Reichenbach, 1096, as St. cerastioides. 
Perennial. Rhizome slender, rooting freely. Shoot diffuse, much 
branched at the base. Branches procumbent to erect, usually glabrous 
except for lines of hairs alternating in position at each node (cf. Stellaria 
media and its allies), rarely hairy or glandular-hairy. Laminae narrowly 
spathulate or elliptical or oblong, rather obtuse, usually about 1 cm. long 
or rather less and 1*5 — 3*0 mm. broad, usually glabrous, rarely hairy. 
Inflorescence (in the British form) with 1 — 3 flowers. Bracts herbaceous, lowest pair leaf-like, upper 
ones much smaller and more or less acute. Pedicels hairy or glandular-hairy. Flowers showy; July 
and August. Sepals narrowly ovate, with a white margin, keel hairy or glabrous. Petals about 
twice as long as the sepals, bifid, the cleft less and often much less than half the length of the 
petal. Stigmas about as long as the ovary. Capsule broadly cylindrical, 1*2 — 2 - o times as long as 
the calyx. Seeds punctate especially round the margin, rather pale brown, about 1 mm. long. 
A record of this plant by Samuelsson (in Bull. Geol. Instil. Upsala x, 232 (1910)), for Cross Fell, Cumberland, at an 
altitude of 450 m., requires confirmation. 
Map 22. 
Distribution of C. cerastioides 
in Great Britain 
