[*][*] Leaves soft and herbaceous, filiform-linear; petals retuse or notched.
4. A. pátula, Michx. Diffusely branched from the slender root; stems filiform (6–10´ long); branches of the cyme diverging; peduncles long; sepals lanceolate, acuminate, 3–5-nerved. (A. Pitcheri, Nutt.)—S. W. Va. to Ky., Ill., Kan., and southward.
5. A. Grœnlándica, 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 Shawangunk, 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 Grœnlandica. Found on Mt. Desert Island, Maine (Rand).
§ 3. MŒHRÍNGIA. 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. lateriflòra, L. Sparingly branched, erect, minutely pubescent; leaves oval or oblong, obtuse (½–1´ long); peduncles 2- (rarely 3–4) flowered, soon becoming lateral; sepals oblong, obtuse.—Gravelly shores, etc., New Eng. to Penn., Mo., Minn., and northward. May, June. (Eu.)
§ 4. AMMADÈNIA. 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 diœcious or polygamous; root perennial.
7. A. peploìdes, 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-shore, N. J. to Maine and northward. June. (Eu.)
7. STELLÀRIA, 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 pubescent lines; leaves ovate or oblong, ½–2½´ long.
S. mèdia, 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. pùbera, 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 surpassing the calyx.
2. S. longifòlia, Muhl. (Long-leaved Stitchwort.) 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.—Grassy places; common, especially northward. June, July. (Eu.)
3. S. lóngipes, 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. gramínea, 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. uliginòsa, Murr. (Swamp S.) Stems weak, decumbent 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. crassifòlia, 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. boreàlis, 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. alpéstris 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. humifùsa, 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. HOLÓSTEUM, 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 ὅλος, all, and ὀστέον, bone, by antiphrasis, these plants being soft and tender.)
H. umbellàtum, L. Leaves oblong; peduncle and upper part of the stem glandular-pubescent; pedicels reflexed after flowering.—Hills around Lancaster, Penn., Prof. Porter, and Morris Co., N. J., C. F. Austin. (Nat. from Eu.)
9. CERÁSTIUM, 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 κέρας, a horn, alluding to the shape of the pod in many species.)
C. viscòsum, 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 clusters 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 Linnæan herbarium,