64 
HOLOSTEUM 
There is a specimen of this plant in the Linnaean herbarium ; but it is unnamed. 
A dwarfed land-form, and an apetalous form, also occur. The latter is Larbrea uliginosa var. apetala Reichenbach 
Icon, v, 36 (1841). 
By the sides of rivulets and in springs ; in every county in the British Isles ; preferring well- 
aerated water with a low mineral-content ; ascending to over 900 m. in Perthshire. 
Faeroes, Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, central Europe (ascending 
to 2200m. in the Tyrol), Russia, southern Europe; northern Africa; Asia (eastwards to Japan and 
Formosa) ; North America. 
Genus 10. Holosteum 
Holosteum [Dillenius Cat. Giss. 130, t. 6 (1719);] L. Sp. PI. 88 (1753) et Gen. PI. ed. 5, 39 (1754) 
diagn. emend.; DC. Prodr. i, 393 (1824); Pax in Engler und Prantl Pfianzenfam. iii, pt. 1 b, 80 (1889). 
Closely allied to Stellaria, differing chiefly in the petals being tridentate with the middle tooth 
longer than the lateral ones, and the inflorescence a cymose umbel. 
About 6 species ; Europe and temperate Asia. 
I. HOLOSTEUM UMBELLATUM. Plate 62 
Caryophyllus holosteus arvensis Gerard Herball 477 (1597); Holosteum quae alsine verna glabra floribus 
umbellatis Dillenius App. Cat. Giss. 130, t. 6 (1719). 
Holosteum umbellatum L. Sp. PI. 88 (1753)!; Rose Elements Bot. 445, t. 2 app. (1775); Smith 
Eng. Bot. no. 27 (1791); FI. Brit. 161 (1800); Syme Eng. Bot. ii, 75 (1864); Rouy et Foucaud FI. Fratice iii, 
236 (1896); Cerastium umbellatum Hudson FI. Angl. ed. 2, 201 (1778). 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 27; FI. Dan. t. 1204; Reichenbach Icon, v, t. 221, fig. 4901.' 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 62. ( a , b, c, d ) Fertile plants, (e) Part of peduncle (enlarged). (/) Sepal (enlarged). 
(g) Fruits. (It) Capsule (enlarged), (i) Seed (enlarged). Surrey (R. C.). (j) Fruiting branches, (k) Sepals 
(one enlarged). (/) Petals (two enlarged). ( m ) Ovaries (one enlarged). Cambridge Botanic Garden (R. I. L.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 1 1 7 ; Dickson, ii, 5; Fries, i, 40; Reichenbach, 2092, as H. heujfeli. 
Ephemeral. Branches decumbent or ascending, glabrous below, more or less glutinous above, 
rather glaucous, up to 10 cm. long but usually much shorter. Leaves sessile, 
elliptical, subconnate, entire, acute, rather thick ; rosette leaves soon withering. 
Inflorescence a cymose umbel, with 2 — 8 flowers. Pedicels eventually about 
ro — 1 *5 cm. long. Flowers up to about 1 cm. in diameter; reflexed after 
flowering, erect in fruit. Bracts very small, involucral. Late March and early 
April. Sepals ovate, acute, about 3 — 4 mm. long, with scarious margins. 
Petals a little longer than the sepals. Stamens about 3. Stigmas 3. Capsule 
broadly elliptical, a little longer than the calyx. Seeds dark red, punctulate. 
After being apparently extinct for many years as a British plant, this species was again 
found in Surrey, in April, 1905. 
Very rare, sandy cornfields and fallows, and on old walls and thatched 
roofs; Surrey, Suffolk, Norfolk. 
Southern Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, central 
Europe (ascending to 1700 m. in the Tyrol), Russia, southern Europe; 
; North America (not indigenous). 
Tribe V. LYCHNIDEAE 
Lychnideae Reichenbach Handb. Natiirl. Pflanzen. 298 (1837) emend.; Al. Braun in Flora xxvi, 365 
(1843); P ax * n Engler und Prantl Pfianzenfam. iii, pt. 1 b, 70 (1889). 
For characters, see page 14. 
Genera of Lychnideae 
Genus 11. Agrostemma (p. 65). Sepals with elongate teeth. Petals without coronal 
scales. Stigmas 5, alternisepalous. Gynophore absent. Capsule without septa at maturity, dehiscing 
septicidally by 5 carpellary alternisepalous teeth. 
Genus 12. Lychnis (p. 66). Petals with coronal scales. Stigmas 5, antisepalous. Gynophore 
short. Capsule almost without septa, dehiscing septicidally by 5 carpellary antisepalous teeth. 
Map 28. Holosteum umbel- 
latum has been found in 
Surrey, Suffolk, and Norfolk, 
but is extinct in most of its 
former stations 
northern Africa ; Asia 
