Flowers produced from May to October; their peduncles
twice as long as the leaves, slightly pubescent, axillary and
terminal, solitary, simple, 1-flowered. Calyx 5-phyllous,
persisting, obscurely 3-5-nerved, subglabrous, somewhat
truncated below; segments lanceolate-ovate,bluntlypointed,
rather more than half as long as the peduncle, herbaceous,
witha very narrow membranous edge, obscurely 3- 5-nerved,
subglabrous. Petals nearly twice as long as the calyx,
rounded at the apex. Stamens shorter than the petals ;
anthers kidney-shaped. Styles shorter than the stamens.
Germen shining, ovate. Capsule 6-7-valved, equal in
length to the calyx. Seeds somewhat kidney-shaped, dark
brown, shining and warted.
I think there is considerable difficulty about the synonyms
of this species, and this difficulty can scarcely be removed
without an attentive comparison of a fuller series of
specimens than I have access to. The specific distinction
between the plant now described and A. ciliata seems evident
enough in its want of cilia, its more closely imbricated,
nerveless, fleshy leaves, which are more pointed at the apex
and less attenuated at the base ; in its broader, blunter,
more herbaceous, subglabrous, calyx-segments, which
have much less of a prominent middle-rib. The specific
diversity of A. ciliata and our A. norvegica seems to me
then,sufficiently obvious; but whether this is always what
is meant by Arenaria multicaulis or A. ciliata /3. of authors,
I do think doubtful. DeCandolle in FI. Franc, described
as a distinct species A. multicaulis, which has been considered
as a synonym of A. norvegica; but in his subsequent
works he reduces A. multicaulis to a variety of A.
ciliata. Persoon also describes A. multicaulis as a species;
and the plants of these authors are probably identical, for
they both refer to Jacq. Collect. | but I am doubtful whether
they are the same with ours, for Persoon states that the
leaves are ciliated. Wahlenberg, Sprengel, Horneman,
and Reichenbach, unite them under the name of A. ciliata.
Without specimens, however, it is impossible to know certainly
whether these authors have seen a plant quite corresponding
with ours. The only specimen which I have seen
quite like ours, is one in the Herbarium of Sir William
Hooker, picked by Sir George Mackenzie in Iceland. Few
things can be more unlike it than the figure in Flora Danica,
which has the narrow leaves, straggling form, and long
peduncles, that, according to Wahlenberg, belong to the
higher Alps, but, combined with these, the small flowers,
which he says are found in lower elevations. Our plant is
remarkably compact, the leaves short and closely imbricated,
and the flowers large and handsome. The specific
character which I have drawn up, is taken from it and the
Iceland specimen in Sir William Hooker’s Herbarium,
which are in all respects identical, without reference to any
of the other forms with which the name A. ciliata is loaded,
none of which seem to me to connect our plant with the true
type of that species. It was first gathered on the 27th of
April 1837, on a range of Serpentine hills, 30 or 40 feet
above the level of the sea, to the north of Balta Sound, in
Unst, the most northern of the Shetland Islands, by the son
of Dr. Edmonstone of that place, who (then only eleven
years of age) shows remarkable powers of observation in
Natural History.—R. G.
In a letter from the youthful discoverer of this interesting
plant, accompanied by an excellent description, it is
observed, that the region of the Serpentine upon which it is
found extends about a mile in length and about half that
distance in breadth ; it fronts the south and south-east; the
ground on which it grows is extremely barren, the vegetation
consisting of a few scattered tufts of Statice Armeria,
Cerastium latifolium, and Arabis petrcea. We are indebted
to Dr. Graham for the coloured drawing from which the
figure is principally engraved.—E d it o r .