. Field and woodland plants. owers with which we are so well acquainted, bloom fromMarch to April; but all tlirough the summer the plant bears smallpetalless flowers that jjroduce the seeds. Of the order Caryophyllacece our first examj)le is the CiUatedPearl wort {Sagina ciliata), a small, creeping plant, flowering inMay and June in chy places. The leaves are very small, narrow,cihated, terminating abruptly in a sharp point; and the two ofeach pair are united at their bases. The flowers are very smalland stalked ; and the petals are either very minute or absent. Thesepals, stamens, styles, and
. Field and woodland plants. owers with which we are so well acquainted, bloom fromMarch to April; but all tlirough the summer the plant bears smallpetalless flowers that jjroduce the seeds. Of the order Caryophyllacece our first examj)le is the CiUatedPearl wort {Sagina ciliata), a small, creeping plant, flowering inMay and June in chy places. The leaves are very small, narrow,cihated, terminating abruptly in a sharp point; and the two ofeach pair are united at their bases. The flowers are very smalland stalked ; and the petals are either very minute or absent. Thesepals, stamens, styles, and valves of the capsule, are each four ;and the sepals he close against the capsule. The Procumbent Pearlwort {S. procumbens), also found in 86 FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS dry places, is a similar little plant, smooth and prostrate, withvery small white flowers that appear in May and bloom till the endof the summer. The peduncles of this species curve backwardjust after flowering, Init Ijecome erect afterwards ; and the THE PROCUMBENr IEAULWORT. which are sometimes five in number, arc not close against tlie fruit,as in the last, but spreading. The genus Stellaria includes some plants with pretty, white,star-like flowers, some of which adorn our hedgerows in early most conspicuous of tliese is the Greater Stitcliwort or SatinFlower {S. ), the ilowers of vvhicli are three-quarters of aninch in diameter, and are arranged in loose, leafy cymes. Thesepals have no veins, and are about half as long as the petals, which WAYSIDES AND WASTES IN SPRING 87 are so deeply cleft that the flower, at first sight, appears to possessten instead of five. The Lesser Stitchwort (S. graminea) is a very similar flower,common in dry places, blooming from May to August. The plantis smooth, and does not possess the glaucous hue of the last stem is very straggling and slender, from one to three feet
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