The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage/Part I/Caryophylleae
III. CARYOPHYLLEÆ, Juss.
1. Stellaria decipiens, Hook, fil.; glabra, caule decumbente dichotome ramoso, foliis recurvis omnibus (etiam supremis) petiolatis obovato-rhombeis acutis apice callosis carnosulis siccitate punctis minutis elevatis asperis, petiolis subciliatis, pedunculis di-trichotomis (rarius unifloris) folia plerumque superantibus ad furcaturam pedicelloque unico medium versus 2-bracteatis, bracteis ovatis acutis scariosis albidis, petalis 5 bipartitis calycem æquantibus interdum eo brevioribus v. nullis filamentisque ima basi dilatatis fere hypogynis, stylis 3.—Hook. fil. in Icon. Plant. vol. vii. t. 680.
Hab. Lord Auckland's and Campbell's Islands; common on the low grounds, especially in the woods, and near the sea.
Caules tetragoni, e basi valde ramosi, filiformes, 3–5 unc. longi. Folia carnosula, 3–5 lin. longa, obovata seu rhomboidea, hinc inde, siccitate, minute tuberculata. Petioli 1–3 lin. longi, latiusculi. Pedunculi folio plerumque longiores, solitarii, raro uniflori, bifidi seu trifidi; ramis inæqualibus. Petala sæpe O.
In many respects this agrees with the S. uliginosa, Murr., and more particularly in the size and arrangement of the inflorescence, but the stems are always decumbent, the leaves all petiolate, very patent or recurved, and not at all broader or ovate at the base; their callous apices are common to both species. The peduncles generally bear two pedicels, which have a pair of bracts at the base, and a pair on one of the pedicels, whereas in S. uliginosa the peduncle is trichotomously divided, with the intermediate pedicel only destitute of bracts. The styles seem to be constantly three, and the stamens and petals are less decidedly perigynous than in the latter plant. In form the leaves resemble those of S. media, With., but the inflorescence is very different, and the stem wants the alternate line of hairs.
2. Stellaria media, With.—Engl. Bot. t. 537.DeC. Prodr. vol. i. p. 396.Alsine, L.
Hab. Lord Auckland's Islands; covering the tomb of a French sailor, and growing along with Poa annua, L.: undoubtedly introduced. A straggling, very common European form of the plant, still retaining all its characters.