STELLA RI A 
63 
8. STELLARIA GRAMINEA. Lesser Stitchwort. Plate 60 
Gramen letuanthemum alterum Gerard Herball 43 (1597); Caryophyllus holosteus arvensis glaber Jlore minor e 
Ray Syn. ed. 3, 346 (1724). 
Stellaria graminea L. Sp. PI. 422 (1753) excl. var. ft et var. 7!; Smith FI. Brit. 475 (1800)!; Syme 
Eng. Bot. ii, 98 (1864); Rouy et Foucaud FI. France iii, 234 (1896). 
leones : — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 803 ; FI. Dan. t. 414; Reichenbach Icon, v, t. 224, fig. 4910 (the large-flowered 
form), as S'. dilleniana \ fig. 4911 (the small-flowered form). 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 60. {a) Flowering branches (large-flowered form). Huntingdonshire (E. W. H.). 
(b) Flowering branches (small-flowered form), (c) Flower (enlarged). ( d ) Ovary. Huntingdonshire (C. E. M.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 1442; Fellman, 53, as S. graminea var. linearis ; 54, as S. graminea var. lanceolata ; 
v. Heurck, iii, 112, as S. graminea forma grandiflora ; Herb. FI. Ingric., i, 112, as S. graminea var. lanceolata ; 
i, 1 1 2 b, as S. graminea forma robustiora folia latiores ; i, 112 c, as S. graminea var. eciliata. 
Perennial. Shoot glabrous, not glaucous. Branches quadrangular, fragile, diffuse, rooting below, 
3 — 9 dm. Leaves all sessile, broadly linear, ciliolate, acute, shorter than in S', dilleniana. In- 
florescence few-flowered (1 — 3 flowers, rarely 5 — 7). Bracts small, with broad scarious margins. 
Pedicels of the lower flowers up to about 3 cm. long, several times as long as the calyx, reflexed 
in fruit. Flowers 7^5 — 16 mm. in diameter, protandrous, sometimes gynodioecious ; June to October. 
Sepals lanceolate, strongly 3-veined. Petals 1 — 2 times as long as the sepals, bifid to the base, 
lobes more divaricate narrower than in S. dilleniana ; rarely absent. Stamens 5 + 5. Anthers red. 
Stigmas 3, longer than the ovary. Capsules subglobose, a little longer than the calyx. Seeds sub- 
globose, dark brown. 
In the Linnaean herbarium there are two specimens named .S'. graminea : one is given to the plant now universally 
known by this name, and the other to 6 ". dilleniana (= S. palustris — S. glauca). 
Dr A. S. Horne (in New Phyt. xiii, 73 (1914)) has described some interesting British variations of this species, which in 
many ways are paralleled by those of S. dilleniana (see p. 62). 
Willdenow ( Sp . PI. ii, 716 (1800)) described a Stellaria named S. scapigera , from a plant in the botanic gardens at Berlin. 
It is figured in Eng. Bot. ed. 1, t. 1269, and issued (no. 10) by Don in his set of dried plants. Syme (op. cit. 99) regards 
it as “apparently a monstrosity of A. graminea” and, “like many other abnormal forms, it appears to be constant under 
cultivation.” 
Common, throughout the British Islands, in pastures, on commons, in hedgebanks, and sandy 
or gravelly pastures ; perhaps commoner on light than on heavy soils, and on siliceous than 
calcareous soils ; ascending to 490 m. in Perthshire. 
Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, central Europe (ascending to 
2000m. in the Tyrol), Russia, southern Europe; Asia; North America (not indigenous). 
9. STELLARIA ULIGINOSA. Bog Stitchwort. Plate 61 
Alsine fontana Gerard Herball 490 (1597); Alsine longifolia idiginosis proveniens locis J. Bauhin Hist, iii, 
pt. ii, 365 (1661); Ray Cat. Cantab. 8 (1660); Syn. ed. 3, 347 (1724). 
Stellaria uliginosa Murray Prodr. Stirp. Gotting. 55 (1770); Smith FI. Brit. 476 (1800)!; Syme 
Eng. Bot. ii, 99 (1864); Rouy et Foucaud FI. France iii, 235 (1896); S. graminea var. 7 L. Sp. PI. 422 (1753); 
S. dilleniana Leers FI. Herborn. 107 (1775); ed. 2, 108 (1789); non Moench. 
leones : — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 1074; Curtis FI. Lond. 1, 88 ; Reichenbach Icon, v, t. 226, fig. 3669, as Larbrea 
uliginosa. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 61. (a) Flowering shoot, (b) Flower (enlarged). ( c ) Persistent calyx and fruit 
(enlarged). Jersey (E. W. H.). 
Exsiccata: — Billot, 2636; Bourgeau (PI. d’Bsp.), 1548; Ehrhart herb., 6; Fries, iii, 32; v. Heurck, i, 47; 
Huter, 983; Reichenbach, 67, as Larbrea aquatica\ Tausch, as S', linoides ; Herb. FI. Ingric. i, 115. 
Perennial. Shoot glabrous or nearly so, subglaucous. Branches diffuse below, erect or diffuse 
above, rooting a little at the base, quadrangular, up to 2 dm. long. Leaves sessile or subsessile, 
elliptical, ciliolate at the base, attenuate at each end. Inflorescence few-flowered. Bracts broad, with 
broad scarious margins. Pedicels of the lowest flowers up to about 1*5 cm. long, at length reflexed. 
Flowers up to about 8 mm. in diameter; June to August. Sepals lanceolate, acuminate, about 
3 or 4 mm. long, united a little at the base, with scarious margins. Petals shorter than the 
sepals, bifid, lobes very narrow ; rarely absent. Stamens inserted (along with the petals) on the 
perigynous disc. Stigmas usually 3. Capsule ovate-cylindrical, shorter than the calyx. Seeds very 
small, reddish-brown, punctulate. 
