2A 0)
SPERGULA arvensis.
Hough-seeded Corn Spurrey.
DECANDRIA Pentagynia.
G e n . C h a r . Cal. 5-leaved. Petals 5, undivided.
Capsule superior, ovate, of 1 cell and 5 valves.
S p e c . C h a r . Leaves whorled. Stalks of the fruit reflexed.
Seeds kidney-shaped, angular, rough.
S v n . Spergula arvensis. Linn. Sp. P I. 630. Sm. F I.
B rit. 502. Huds. 202. With. 436. H ull. 102.
Relh. 179. Sibth. 148. Abbot. 102. Curt. Lond.
fa s c . 5 . t. 31.
Alsine Spergula dicta major. R a il Syn. 351.
V e r y common in corn-fields and waste places on a sandy
soil, flowering from July to September.
Root annual, small in proportion to the plant. Stems
spreading, very various in luxuriance, round, branched,
jointed, downy and viscid especially in their 'upper part.
Leaves many in a whorl at each joint, linear, obtuse, occasionally
smooth or dowfty. • Panicles terminal, forked, divaricated.
Flower-stalks downy, reflexed as the fruit ripens.
Calyx-leaves ovate, bluntish, concave, downy at the back,
membranous at the edge. Petals ovate, white, entire, scarcely
exceeding the calyx in length.- Stamina generally 10, sometimes
5, or some intermediate number. Styles 5, short.
Capsule almost twice as long as the’calyx. Seeds numerous,
kidney-shaped or roundish, swelling/angular, with an obsolete
(not membranous) border. When ripe they are black, and
rough all over with minute tubercles or bristles.
Mr. Curtis mentions that cattle are fed with this herb, and
poultry with its seeds, in Flanders, Germany and Norway.
With us it is known only as a troublesome weed in sandy
ground.