4. Alsine Mèdia L. Common Chickweed. Satin-Flower. Tongue-Grass

Fig. 1752

Alsine media L. Sp. Pl. 272. 1753.

Stellaria media Vill. Hist. Pl. Dauph. 3: 615. 1789.

Annual, weak, tufted, much branched, decumbent or ascending, 4'-16' long, glabrous except a line of hairs along the stem and branches, the pubescent sepals and the sometimes ciliate petioles. Leaves ovate or oval, 2"-1 1/2' long, acute or rarely obtuse, the lower petioled and often cordate, the upper sessile; flowers 2"-4" broad, in terminal leafy cymes or also solitary in the axils; pedicels slender; sepals oblong, mostly acute, longer than the 2-parted petals; stamens 2-10; capsule ovoid, longer than the calyx; seeds rough, sometimes crested.

In waste places, meadows and woods, nearly throughout North America. Naturalized from Europe, though possibly native northward. Native also of Asia and now almost universally distributed as a weed. White bird's-eye. Chicken- or winter-weed. Jan.-Dec.

5. Alsine Pùbera (Michx.) Britton. Great Or Star Chickweed

Fig. 1753

Stellaria pubera Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 273. 1803.

Alsine pubera Britton, Mem. Torr. Club 5: 150. 1894.

Perennial, erect or decumbent, 4'-12' high, branching, the stems and branches with two finely hairy lines. Leaves oblong or ovate-oblong, 1/2'-2 1/2' long, acute or obtuse, their margins more or less ciliate, the upper generally sessile, the lower sometimes narrowed at the base or on broad petioles, those of sterile shoots sometimes all petioled; flowers 4."-6" broad, in terminal leafy cymes; pedicels rather stout, more or less pubescent; sepals ovate to lanceolate, blunt or acutish, often scarious-margined, shorter than the 2-cleft or 2-parted petals; capsule subglobose or ovoid, its teeth revolute after splitting; seeds rough.

In moist, rocky places, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to Indiana, south to Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama. Ascends to 4500 ft. in North Carolina. May-June.

6. Alsine Tennesse Nsis (C. Mohr) Small. Tennessee Chickweed

Fig. 1754

Alsine pubera tennesseensis C. Mohr, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 6: 499. 1901.

Alsine tennesseensis Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 422. 1903.

Perennial, branched at the base, the branches decumbent, 4'-12' long, pubescent in lines. Lower leaves oval to suborbicular, petioled, acute or short-acuminate, those of sterile branches often larger; upper leaves sessile or short-petioled, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 1'-2' long, 1/2'-3/4' wide; flowers slender-pedicelled, about 10" broad; sepals lanceolate, acuminate, 5" long, the outer ciliate; petals about as long as the sepals, or shorter, cleft to below the middle; capsule 2"-3" long.

Rocky woods, West Virginia and Kentucky to Alabama. April-June.