A R E N A R I A ferpyllifolia.
Thyme-leaved Sandwort.
D EC AND R1A Trigyn'ur.
Gen. Char. Cal. 5-leaved, fpreading. Petals 5, undivided.
Cap/, fuperior, of 1 cell, with many feeds.
Spec. Char. Leaves ovate, nearly feflile, rough.
Calyx hairy, its outer leaves five-ribbed.
Syn. Arenaria ferpyllifolia. Linn. Sp. P I. 606. Sm.
F I. B rit. 479. HudJ. 19 1 . With. 4 2 1 . Hull. 95.
R elb. 1 7 1 • Sibth. 14 2 . ylbbot. 97. Curt. Load,
fa jc . 4. t. 3 2 . Dick/. H. S ic c.fa fc . 16; 3.
Alfine minor multicaulis. R a il Syn. 349.
C oM M O N on walls and in barren wade places, flowering
from May to the middle of July.
The root is fmall, fibrous, annual. Stems feveral, 3 or 4
inches high, fpreading, a little branched, leafy, rigid, round,
downy, forked upwards, fet with feveral pairs of oppofite, fmall,
ovate, entire, thyme-like leaves, which are roughith on both
fides, and flightly ribbed. Flower-ftalks always ere£t. Leaves
of the calyx ovate, acute, hairy, with a white membranous
edge; the 3 outermoft furnithed with 5 ribs, the 3 inner ones
with only 3. Petals white, fhorter than the calyx. Capfule
ovate, with 6 teeth. Seeds rough, reddifh.
The whole herb when rubbed has a faint herbaceous fmell.
We know not that it poflefles any peculiar qualities. Small
birds, and fome caterpillars, eat the flower-buds and unripe
capfules.
The ftrufture of the calyx, particularly the number of its
ribs, is of great importance in this genus, as in Linurn, for
difcriminating the fpecies.