-- 2. ALSNE. _Pod splitting to the base into 3 entire valves; seeds many, usually rough, naked at the hilum; flowers solitary and terminal or cymose; root in our species perennial, except in n. 4._

[*] _Leaves small, rigid, awl-shaped or bristle-shaped._

1. A. Caroliniana, Walt. (PINE-BARREN S.) Densely tufted from a deep perpendicular root; _leaves closely imbricated_, but spreading, _awl-shaped, short, channelled_; branches naked and minutely glandular above, several-flowered; _sepals obtuse_, ovate, shorter than the pod.

(A. squarrosa, _Michx._)--In pure sand, S. New York, N. J., and southward along the coast. May--July.

2. A. Michauxii, Hook. f. Erect, or usually diffusely spreading from a small root, smooth; _leaves slender, between awl-shaped and bristle-form_, with many others _cl.u.s.tered_ in the axils; cyme diffuse, naked, many-flowered; _sepals pointed, 3-ribbed_, ovate, as long as the pod. (A. stricta, _Michx._)--Rocks and dry wooded banks, Vt. and Penn.

to Minn., Mo., and southwestward. July.

3. A. verna, L. Dwarf, alpine, densely matted, glabrous or (var. HIRTA) somewhat p.u.b.escent, 1--3' high; leaves narrowly linear or awl-shaped; flowers loosely cymose; sepals lanceolate, pointed, 3-nerved, shorter than the pod.--Smuggler's Notch, Vt. (_Pringle_); north and westward.

(Eu.)

[*][*] _Leaves soft and herbaceous, filiform-linear; petals retuse or notched._

4. A. patula, Michx. Diffusely branched from the slender root; stems filiform (6--10' long); branches of the cyme diverging; peduncles long; _sepals lanceolate, ac.u.minate, 3--5-nerved_. (A. Pitcheri, _Nutt._)--S. W. Va. to Ky., Ill., Kan., and southward.

5. A. Grnlandica, Spreng. (MOUNTAIN S.) Densely tufted from slender roots, smooth; flowering stems filiform, erect (2--4' high), few-flowered; _sepals oblong, obtuse, nerveless_.--Summit of the Shaw.a.n.gunk, Catskill, and Adirondack Mountains, N. Y., of the higher mountains of New Eng., and northward; alpine or subalpine. At Bath, Maine, on river-banks near the sea, and near Middletown, Ct.

June--Aug.--Leaves and peduncles 3--6" long; flowers large in proportion. (Addendum)--Arenaria Grnlandica. Found on Mt. Desert Island, Maine (_Rand_).

-- 3. MHRiNGIA. _Parts of the flower sometimes in fours; pod as in -- 1, but the young ovary 3-celled; seeds rather few, smooth, with a thickish appendage (strophiole) at the hilum; perennials, with flaccid broadish leaves._

6. A. lateriflra, L. Sparingly branched, erect, minutely p.u.b.escent; leaves oval or oblong, obtuse (--1' long); peduncles 2--(rarely 3--4) flowered, soon becoming lateral; sepals oblong, obtuse.--Gravelly sh.o.r.es, etc., New Eng. to Penn., Mo., Minn., and northward. May, June.

(Eu.)

-- 4. AMMADeNIA. _Styles, cells of the ovary, and valves of the fleshy pod 3, rarely 4 or 5; seeds few, smooth, short-beaked at the naked hilum; disk under the ovary more prominent than usual, glandular, 10-lobed; flowers almost sessile in the axils, sometimes dicious or polygamous; root perennial._

7. A. peplodes, L. Stems (simple or forking from long rootstocks, 6--10' high) and ovate partly-clasping leaves (8--10" long) very fleshy. (Honkenya peploides, _Ehrh._)--Sands of the sea-sh.o.r.e, N. J. to Maine and northward. June. (Eu.)

7. STELLaRIA, L. CHICKWEED. STARWORT.

Sepals 4--5. Petals 4--5, deeply 2-cleft, sometimes none. Stamens 8, 10, or fewer. Styles 3, rarely 4 or 5, opposite as many sepals. Pod ovoid, 1-celled, opening by twice as many valves as there are styles, several--many-seeded. Seeds naked.--Flowers (white) solitary or cymose, terminal, or appearing lateral by the prolongation of the stem from the upper axils. (Name from _stella_, a star, in allusion to the star-shaped flowers.)

[*] _Stems spreading, flaccid, marked longitudinally with one or two p.u.b.escent lines; leaves ovate or oblong, --2' long._

S. MeDIA, Smith. (COMMON CHICKWEED.) Annual or nearly so; _lower leaves on hairy petioles, petals shorter than the calyx_, 2-parted, stamens 3--10.--Everywhere in damp grounds. (Nat. from Eu.)

1. S. p.u.b.era, Michx. (GREAT CHICKWEED.) Root perennial; _leaves all sessile; petals longer than the calyx_, deeply 2-cleft; stamens 10.--Shaded rocks, Penn. to Ind., and southward. May.

[*][*] _Stems erect or spreading; wholly glabrous perennials, with sessile and narrow or small leaves; stamens usually 10, perigynous._

[+] _Scaly-bracted; petals 2-parted, equalling or surpa.s.sing the calyx._

2. S. longiflia, Muhl. (LONG-LEAVED St.i.tCHWORT.) Stem erect, weak, often with rough angles (8--18' high); _leaves linear, acutish at both ends, spreading; cymes naked and at length lateral, peduncled_, many-flowered, the slender _pedicels spreading_; petals 2-parted, longer than the calyx; seeds smooth.--Gra.s.sy places; common, especially northward. June, July. (Eu.)

3. S. longipes, Goldie. (LONG-STALKED S.) Shining or somewhat glaucous, very smooth; _leaves ascending, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate_, acute, _broadest at the base_, rather rigid; cyme terminal, few-flowered, the long _pedicels strictly erect_; petals longer than the calyx; seeds smooth.--Maine to Minn., rare; common farther north. (Eu.)

S. GRAMiNEA, L. Resembling the last; leaves linear-lanceolate, _broadest above the base; pedicels widely spreading; seeds_ strongly but minutely _rugose_.--Becoming rather frequent. (Int. from Eu.)

4. S. uliginsa, Murr. (SWAMP S.) Stems weak, dec.u.mbent or diffuse, at length prolonged, leaving the naked and usually _sessile cymes lateral; leaves lanceolate or oblong_, veiny; petals and ripe _pods as long as the calyx; seeds roughened_.--Swamps and rills, Md. to N. Eng., and northward; rare. (Eu.)

[+][+] _Flowers terminal or in the forks of the stem or of leafy branches; bracts foliaceous; petals 2-parted, small or often none; styles 3--4; pod longer than the calyx._

5. S. cra.s.siflia, Ehrh. Stems diffuse or erect, flaccid; _leaves rather fleshy_, varying from linear-lanceolate to oblong; _petals longer than the calyx_, or wanting; _seeds rugose-roughened_.--Springy places, eastern Ky. (_Short_), Ringwood, Ill. (_Vasey_), and northward.

April--June. (Eu.)

6. S. borealis, Bigel. (NORTHERN S.) Stems erect or spreading, flaccid, many times forked, at length resolved into a leafy cyme; leaves varying from broadly lanceolate to ovate-oblong; _petals 2--5, shorter than the calyx, or oftener none_; sepals acute; styles usually 4; _seeds smooth_.--Shaded or wet places, R. I. to Minn., and northward.

June--Aug.--Var. ALPeSTRIS has the later flowers more cymose, and their bracts small and partly scarious, also the seeds obscurely reticulated or roughish.--Lake Superior, _Dr. Robbins_. (Eu.) (Addendum)--Stellaria borealis. In the mountains of northern N. J.

7. S. humifusa, Rottb. Spreading or _creeping_; stems or branches (2'

high) 1--3-flowered; _leaves fleshy, ovate or oblong_ (2--3" long); _petals a little longer than the calyx_; seeds smooth.--Northern border of Maine on the St. John's (_G. L. Goodale_), and high northward. June.

(Eu.) (Addendum) S. humifusa. This species has also been found on Cranberry Island, near Mt. Desert, Maine, by _J. H. Redfield_.

8. HOLoSTEUM, L. JAGGED CHICKWEED.

Sepals 5. Petals 5, usually jagged or denticulate at the point. Stamens 3--5, rarely 10. Styles mostly 3. Pod ovoid, 1-celled, many-seeded, opening at the top by 6 teeth. Seeds rough, flattened on the back, attached by the inner face.--Annuals or biennials, with several (white) flowers in an umbel, borne on a long terminal peduncle. (Name composed of ????, _all_, and ?st???, _bone_, by antiphrasis, these plants being soft and tender.)

H. UMBELLaTUM, L. Leaves oblong; peduncle and upper part of the stem glandular-p.u.b.escent; pedicels reflexed after flowering.--Hills around Lancaster, Penn., _Prof. Porter_, and Morris Co., N. J., _C. F. Austin_.

(Nat. from Eu.)

9. CERaSTIUM, L. MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED.

Sepals 5, rarely 4. Petals as many, 2-lobed or cleft, rarely entire.

Stamens twice as many, or fewer. Styles equal in number to the sepals and opposite them. Pod 1-celled, usually elongated, membranaceous, opening at the apex by twice as many teeth as there were styles, many-seeded. Seeds rough.--Flowers white, in terminal cymes. Our species have the petals 2-cleft or obcordate, the parts of the flower always in fives, and the exserted pods more or less curved. (Name from ???a?, _a horn_, alluding to the shape of the pod in many species.)

C. VISCSUM, L. (MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED.) _Annual_, hairy and rather clammy, nearly erect (4--9' high); _leaves ovate or obovate to oblong-spatulate_; bracts herbaceous; _flowers small_ in close cl.u.s.ters at first, _pedicels even in fruit not longer than the acute sepals; petals shorter than the calyx_. (C. vulgatum, _L. Herb._, and _Man._ The names of this and the next were transposed in the Linnaean herbarium, which has caused much confusion. They are here applied as originally by Linnaeus, and by many recent botanists. Others subst.i.tute for this the later name, C. glomeratum, _Thuill._)--Gra.s.sy places, eastward and southward; not common. May--July.--Stamens often 5. (Nat. from Eu.)

C. VULGaTUM, L. (LARGER M.) Perennial; stems clammy-hairy, spreading (6--15' long); _leaves oblong_; upper bracts scarious-margined; _flowers larger_ (sepals 2--3" long), at first cl.u.s.tered, the fruiting _pedicels_ longer, the earlier ones mostly much _longer than the obtuse sepals_; petals equalling the calyx. (C. viscosum, _L. Herb._, and _Man._ C. triviale, _Link._)--Fields and copses; common, perhaps indigenous. May--July. (Nat. from Eu.)

1. C. nutans, Raf. Annual, very clammy-p.u.b.escent; stems erect, slender, grooved, diffusely branched (6--20' high); cyme loose and open, _many-flowered; leaves oblong-lanceolate_, acute, the lowest spatulate; peduncles mostly elongated; petals longer than the calyx; _pods nodding on the stalks, curved upward, thrice the length of the calyx_.--Moist places, Vt. to Minn., and southward. May--July.

2. C. arvense, L. (FIELD CHICKWEED.) Perennial; stems ascending or erect, tufted, downy or nearly smooth, slender (4--8' high), naked and _few--several-flowered_ at the summit; _leaves linear or narrowly lanceolate_; petals obcordate, more than twice the length of the calyx; _pods scarcely longer than the calyx_.--Dry or rocky places. May--July.

(Eu.)

Var. oblongiflium, Holl. & Britt. Usually taller, p.u.b.escent; leaves narrowly or broadly oblong or oblong-lanceolate; pod about twice longer than the calyx. (C. oblongifolium, _Torr._)--Rocky places, N. Y. to Minn., and southward.--Var. VILLSUM, Holl. & Britt. Similar but densely villous-p.u.b.escent, and the leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate.--E.

Penn.

10. SAGNA, L. PEARLWORT.

Sepals 4 or 5. Petals 4 or 5, undivided, or often none. Stamens as many as the sepals, rarely twice as many. Styles as many as the sepals and alternate with them. Pod many-seeded, 4--5-valved to the base; valves opposite the sepals.--Little, matted herbs, with thread-like or awl-shaped leaves, no stipules, and small flowers terminating the stems or branches; in summer. (Name from _sagina_, fattening; previously applied to the spurry.)

[*] _Parts of the flower in fours, rarely with some few in fives._

1. S. proc.u.mbens, L. Annual or perennial, _depressed or spreading_ on the ground, glabrous; leaves linear-thread-shaped; _apex of the peduncle often hooked_ soon after flowering; _petals shorter than the_ broadly ovate obtuse _sepals_, sometimes none.--Springy places and damp rocks, coast of Maine to Penn. (Eu.)

2. S. apetala, L. _Annual, erect_ or ascending; leaves ciliate at base or glabrous; _petals none_ or very small; _peduncles always erect_.--Dry soil, Ma.s.s. to Penn.; scarce, seemingly native? (Eu.)