Spergulastrum
ORD. Caryophylleoe. A genus comprising about seventy species of usually diffuse herbs, broadly dispersed over the globe, seven being natives of Britain. Flowers white, small, in dichotomous cymes; sepals and petals five, rarely four; stamens ten, rarely eight, five, or three. Leaves narrow or broad. S. media is the common Chickweed. S. Holostea is one of our early hedge-flowers. The species thrive in ordinary soil, but have little value as garden plants.
S. graminea aurea (golden grass-like). fl. white, many, 1/2in. to 3/4in. in diameter; petals equalling the three-nerved sepals. May to August. l. very narrow, sessile, ciliate, pale golden-yellow. Stem 1ft. to 3ft. long, sub-erect, four-angled. (The green-leaved type is found in Europe (Britain), Siberia, Western Asia to the Himalayas.) A perennial, sometimes used in carpet-bedding.
S. Holostea (Holostea). Adder's Meat; Greater Stitchwort; Moon Flower; Satin Flower, &c. fl. white, 1/2in. to 3/4in. in diameter, on slender pedicels; petals twice as long as the almost nerveless sepals. April to June. l. sessile, connate, lanceolate, 1in. to 4in. long, acuminate, rigid, ciliated. Stem 1ft. to 2ft. long, decumbent at base, brittle at the nodes, hairy above. Europe (Britain). Perennial. (Sy. En. B. 230.)