fi. foins, latioribus, floribus minoribus.
Hab. Island of Unalaschka. Chamisso. p. Prairies of the Rocky Mountains, between lat. 52° and 56°.
Drummond.—A small plant with altogether the habit of SteUaria: from which it is separated on account of
its slightly perigynous stamens and petals. This insertion, however, equally exists in some acknowledged
SteUaria.
•7. STELLARIA. Linn.
Cal. 5-partitus. PeL 5, bifida. Siam. 10, aut ahorlu 3-8. Styli 3. Caps. 1-locularis,
apice 6-valvis, polysperma. DC.
1. S. media; caulibus procumbentibus linea lateral! alterna pilosa, foliis ovatis petiolatis
tenerrimis superioribus sessilibus, pedicellis fructiferis deflexis, capsulis profonde 6-valvi-
bus, calyce piloso vix longioribus,—Engl. Bot. t. 537. Pursh, FI. Am. v. 1. p. 317. Bigel.
FI. Bost ed. 2. p. 181. Torrey, FI. o f Un. St. v. 1. p. 453. De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p. 396.
—A1 sine media. Linn.
Hab. Gathered on the route between Cumberland House and York Factory. Drummond. Lake Huron.
Dr. Todd. At the Grande Chaudière, Upper Canada. Pursh, MSS.
2. S. longifolia; flaccida ramosa, caule tetragono scabriusculo, foliis linearibus patent^
bus marginibus sæpissime scabris, paniculis terminalibus divaricatis bracteatis, petalis.bipar-
titis calyce acuto trinervi vix longioribus, stylis 3-4.—Muhl. Cat.—De Cand-, Prodr, v. 1. p.
400. Rich, in Frankl. 1st Joum. ed. 2. App. p. 14. Torrey, FI. o f Un, St. v. 1. p . 452; (excl.
syn. S. longip. Gold.) Bigel. FI. Bost. ed. 2. p. 182.— S. graminea. Bigel. Fl. Bost. ed. 1. p.
110. Cham, et Schleckt. in Linnoea, v. l .p . 49.—Spergulastrum gramineum. Mich. Am. v, 1.
p . 276. De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p. 422.—:Micropetalum gramineum. Pers. Syn. PI. v. 1. p.
509. Pursh, FI. Am. v. 1. p. 320.
H ab. Canada. Goldie. Lake Huron. Dr. Todd. Woody country from lat. 54° to 64®. The specimens,
here noticed, were gathered at Cumberland House Fort and English River, by Dr. Richardson and
Drummond. Unalaschka. Chamisso. On the Columbia. Dr. Scouler; Douglas.—After the elaborate and
faithful description which Dr. Richardson has given of this plant in the Appendix to the Second Edition of
Franklin’s Journal, it. might be needless for me to offer any farther remark, were it not that, like others
of this perplexing genus, it is liable to variation, and it will be seen by the above synonymy what difficulty
the American Botanists have found in determining its place. Dr. Richardson has included among his
references the Spergulastrum lanceolatum of Mich., which, nevertheless, I have ventured to keep distinct;
but I am far from saying that they ought not to be united, different as the extremes may appear to be. Indeed
my specimens of S. longifolia, from Dr. Boott, (which are the same as Professor Bigelow’s,) and others
from Dr. Torrey, have rather broader leaves than Dr. Richardson’s plants, and quite smooth (not scabrous)
stems and margins to the leaves: thus, as it were, partaking of the characters of the following
species. With regard to the genus Spergulastrum or Micropetalum, all the American Botanists concur in
uniting it with SteUaria, the minute or absent petals being a very unimportant character, and decidedly
variable in the species of the genus in question. The stamens and petals are perigynous, as in Larbrea.
2. S. borealis ; flaccida ramosa ubique lævis" glaberrima, foliis lato-lanceolatis lanceo-
latisque basi apiceque acutis, paniculis terminalibus foliosis, petalis bipartitis calyce acuto
trinervi vix longioribus.
». panicula foliosa, ut pedicelli axillares solitarii videantur.— S. borealis. Bigel, FI. Bost.
ed. 2. p. 4.33.—S. lanceolata. Torrey, FI. o f Un. St. v. L p. 453. (non Poiret et De Cand.)
—Spergulastrum lanceolatum. Mich. Am. v. l .p . 275.—Micropetalum lanceolatum. Pers.
Syn. PI. v. 1. p. 320.
0. panicula minus foliosa* rarius bracteata.
y. nand; omnibus partibus minoribus.
Hab. *. Fort Norman, in lat. 65°. Dr. Richardson, p. Throughout Canada, and as far as the Arctic
Circle. y. On the Rocky Mountains, between lat. 52° and 56°. Drummond.—If I am correct in keeping
this plant distinct from the preceding, the name of Professor Bigelow is what ought to be adopted. I
possess authentic specimens of his S. borealis from Dr. Boott, and am certain that it exactly corresponds
with my «. Such, too, is the case with the plant of Dr. Torrey, and I presume it is equally the Spergulastrum
lanceolatum of Michaux. Its petals are sometimes wanting. When the panicles are much elongated,
bractese take the place of leaves; and then, especially if the leaves are more narrow than usual, the plant
can hardly be distinguished from some states of S. longifolia. Nor can it be concealed that it bears
a close affinity with our _S. graminea, being, most probably, what is intended under that name by
Chamisso; whilst the variety he mentions with scabrous stems, “ qualem in regionibus sylvaticis inter
54-64 gradum lat. bor. observavit Richardson,” I have referred to S. longifolia. The dwarf state from the
Rocky Mountains, I have had the greatest difficulty in distinguishing from Larbrea uliginosa, for assuredly
the stamens and corolla are perigynous; but the leaves are less ovate, the flowers less crowded at the top
of the branches, the petals and styles longer. Dr. Richardson had already observed, under his S. longifolia,
“ flores magnitinline Stellaria uliginosa (Smith) quae quoque non raro tetragyna.”
3. S. longipes; subflaccida glaberrima glauca, foliis lineari-subulatis patentibus, pedun-
culis terminalibus dichotome ramosis, bracteis membranaceis, pedicellis valde eloncratis,
petalis late obovatis profunde bifidis calyce obtuso obscure trinervi paulo longioribus^-
Goldie in Edin. Phil. Joum. Apr. 1822. De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p. 400.
/3. minor; caulibus foliisquè Strictioribüs.
Planta tota glaberrima. Caules in subpatentes, flaccidi, pedales et ultra, in p. spithamaei, basi decum-
bentes, dein erecti, subtetragoni, ramosi. Folia glauco-viridia, sesquiunciam ad duas uncias longa, late
lineari-subulata, seu e basi latiore sensim acuminata, integerrima, margine subcartilaginea, patentia, in p.
paulo latiora magisque erecto-patentia. Pedunculi terminales, aphylli, dichotome ramosi, ad dichotomias
bracteati, bracteis majusculis, late ovatis, albo-membranaceis, dorso solummodo viridibus. Flores conspicui,
albi. Sepala elliptico-ovata, obtusa, viridia, glaucescentia, obscure trinervia, margine lato-membranacea.
Petala calyce paulo longiora, late obovata, alba, profunde bifida. Anther a fuscescentes. Capsula ovato-
oblonga, nigra, vel intense fusca, nitida, calycem paulo excedens, usque ad medium trivalvis, valvis raro
bifidis. Semina parva, subrotunda, fusca.
Hab. Woods near Lake Ontario; Mr. Goldie; thence to the Mackenzie River and Bear Lake. Dr.
Richardson; Drummond.—The present Stellaria is one, (along with 4, 5, and 6,) of a series of the genus,
respecting which I scarcely know whether they should constitute species or rather be described as varieties.
Characters, indeed, may easily be detected for defining the extreme appearances of them: biit there are,
among the numerous specimens which Dr. Richardson’s and Mr. Drummond’s rich collection can boast,
intermediate states which I cannot satisfactorily refer to any. All are distinguished by their rigid erect
habit; (except the var. a. of the present species,) by leaves, broad at the base, gradually tapering upwards,
by their remarkable glossiness, unless when any portion, or the whole of them, be glaucous; by their
obscurely-nerved calyx; and by the large, deep, rich, brown, or black, véry glossy, capsule, which, being
longer than the calyx, forms a striking contrast with the pale hue of the rest of the plant. Our present
species is distinguished by a larger size than the rest, by its more distant, longer leaves, and especially by the
great length of the pedicels of its flower and fruit. Nevertheless, the plants of a humbler growth border upon