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Arenaria (From arena sand in which most)

(from arena, sand; in which most of the species are found). Sandwort. ORD. Caryophylleae. TRIBE Alsineae. A very large genus of hardy herbaceous plants, consisting of about 150 species. It is distinguished by having generally three styles. The perennials only are worth growing; these are extremely pretty little alpine plants, and will thrive in any ordinary soil in exposed places; the rarer species may be grown in small pots, well drained, in a mixture of sand, loam, and leaf soil, or in well-drained crannies of the rockery. They may be increased by either division, seeds, or cuttings; the latter, placed under a hand-glass, will root freely. The best time to divide the plants is early spring, or July and August. Seeds should be sown in spring in a cold frame.

A. balearica (Balearic).* fl. white, sepals erect; peduncles elongated, one-flowered. March to August. l. very small, ovate, shining, rather fleshy, ciliated. h. 3in. Corsica, 1787. A pretty little creeper, one of the best plants for covering damp borders of the rockwork.

A. caespitosa (tufted). Synonymous with A. verna coespitosa. A. ciliata (ciliated). fl. white, usually solitary; sepals ovate, acute, five to seven ribbed; petals obovate, twice as long as the sepals. July. l. ovate, or obovate, roughish, with a few hairs, one-nerved, and ciliated. Ireland. h. 6in. A thick, tufted, spreading, procumbent plant.

A. graminifolia (grass-leaved).* fl. white; panicle three-forked, hairy, loose; sepals very blunt, much shorter than the obovate petals. June. l. long, awl-shaped, filiform, scabrous on the margins from serratures. Stem erect, simple. h. 6in. to 9in. Caucasus, 1817.

A. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl. white, usually solitary; peduncles very long, pubescent; sepals ovate, awned, three-nerved, smaller than the petals. June. l. awl-shaped, broadish, flat, three-nerved, ciliated, radical ones crowded. h. 3in. to 6in. France, 1783. A. g. biflora is a two-flowered, and A. g. triflora a three-flowered, variety.

A. laricifolia (Larch-leaved).* fl. white; sepals bluntish, triple nerved, hairy; petals twice as long as the sepals; stems ascending, one, three, or six flowered, somewhat scabrous; calyx cylindrical. June. l. awl-shaped, denticulately ciliated. h. 6in. Switzerland, 1816.

A. longifolia (long-leaved). fl. white; sepals ovate, obtuse, not half the length of the obovate petals; panicle three-forked, glabrous, crowded. June. l. awl-shaped, filiform, serrulated. Stem erect, simple. h. 6in. to 9in. Siberia, 1823.

A. montana (mountain). fl. large, white; peduncles terminal, very long, one-flowered; sepals lanceolate, acuminated, much shorter than the corolla. April. l. lanceolate-linear; sterile stems very long, procumbent. h. 3in. France and Spain, 1800.

A. peploides (Peplis-like). fl. white; sepals ovate, shorter than the oblong petals. May to July. l. ovate, light green, rather fleshy; branches procumbent, fleshy, deciduous. h. 3in. to 4in. Sea shores of Britain. SYN. Honckenya peploides.

A. purpurascens (purplish).* fl. purplish; pedicels tomentose, scarcely exceeding the leaves; sepals lanceolate, smooth, with shrivelled margins, longer than the corolla; branches two to three-flowered. May. l. ovate-lanceolate, acuminated, glabrous. Plant tufted, decumbent. h. 6in. Higher Pyrenees.

A. rotundifolia (round-leaved).* fl. white, solitary; petals roundish-ovate, longer than the sepals. July and August. l. about 1/4in. across, roundish, ciliated, on spreading tufted branches. h. 4in. to 6in. Siberia. A. tetraquetra (four-angled). fl. white, somewhat capitate; sepals stiff, acute, keeled, ciliated, almost equal in length to the corolla. August. l. ovate, keeled, recurved, edged, imbricated in four rows. Stem straight, pubescent. h. 3in. to 6in. France, 1731.

A. verna (spring-flowering). fl. small, white; sepals ovate, lanceolate, acuminated, with three remote equal ribs, longer than the obovate petals. May. l. awl-shaped, bluntish. Stems panicled, elongated. h. about 3in. A. v. caespitosa (turfy). A variety having very leafy stems. Calyces and peduncles smoothish. Europe. SYN. A. coespitosa.