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FOC | Family List | FOC Vol. 6 | Caryophyllaceae

13. Cerastium Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 437. 1753.

卷耳属 juan er shu

Lu Dequan; John K. Morton

Herbs annual or perennial, pubescent and/or glandular pubescent, rarely glabrous. Stems usually caespitose, sometimes slightly woody at base. Leaves ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate. Inflorescence terminal, a dichasial cyme, dense or lax, sometimes flowers solitary. Sepals (4 or)5, free. Petals (4 or)5, sometimes absent, white, apex usually 2-lobed or retuse, rarely entire. Stamens (3 or 5 or)10; nectaries present. Ovary 1-loculed; ovules numerous. Styles 3--5, inserted opposite sepals. Capsule golden yellowish, cylindric, sometimes subequaling but usually exceeding calyx, hard, thin, brittle, dehiscing by 2 × as many teeth as styles; teeth slightly curved, sometimes straight or revolute. Seeds numerous, globose or reniform, compressed, usually tuberculate; embryo annular.

About 100 species: almost cosmopolitan, most abundant in temperate and cold regions: 23 species (nine endemic) in China.

The identities of the taxa to which the following three names apply could not be ascertained. All were described from China, but none of the types has been seen by the present authors: Cerastium calcicola Ohwi (Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 36: 46. 1934), described from Taiwan; C. kaoi Shimizu (J. Fac. Text. Sci. & Techn. Shinshu Univ. No. 36, Biol., No. 12 [Stud. Limest. Fl. Jap. & Taiwan, Pt. 2]: 23. 1963), also described from Taiwan; and C. sinicum Nakai (J. Jap. Bot. 15: 526. 1939), described from Hebei.

The record of Cerastium perfoliatum Linnaeus in FRPS (p. 83), from Zhejiang, requires confirmation. No specimens of this species have been seen by the current authors.


1 Styles 3; capsule teeth 6.   (2)
+ Styles (4 or)5; capsule teeth (8 or)10.   (3)
       
2 (1) Leaves linear-lanceolate; petals obovate, longer than sepals; stamens 10   1 C. cerastoides
+ Leaves ovate-elliptic; petals ovate, shorter than sepals; stamens 5   2 C. parvipetalum
       
3 (1) Plants up to 20 cm tall.   (4)
+ Plants at least 15 cm tall.   (12)
       
4 (3) Leaves elliptic, oblong, ovate, or obovate-elliptic.   (5)
+ Leaves linear-lanceolate, lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate.   (8)
       
5 (4) Cyme densely clustered, headlike   3 C. glomeratum
+ Cyme not as above.   (6)
       
6 (5) Stems ascending; pedicel 5--8 mm, usually nutant after anthesis   4 C. pusillum
+ Stems erect; pedicel to 15 mm.   (7)
       
7 (6) Leaf apex obtuse; flowers sparse; sepals oblong, 4--5 mm   5 C. limprichtii
+ Leaf apex acute; flowers dense; sepals oblong-lanceolate, 7--8 mm   6 C. thomsonii
       
8 (4) Leaves ovate-lanceolate.   (9)
+ Leaves linear-lanceolate or lanceolate.   (10)
       
9 (8) Plants annual; leaves 1--3 cm × 2--5 mm; flowers borne in a lax dichasium; calyx strongly inflated in fruit; capsule conical-cylindric   7 C. dichotomum subsp. inflatum
+ Plants perennial; leaves 1--2.5 cm × 3--10 mm; flower solitary; calyx not inflated in fruit; capsule cylindric   8 C. lithospermifolium
       
10 (8) Leaf apex obtuse; petals slightly shorter than or equaling sepals   9 C. szechuense
+ Leaves apex acute; petals longer than sepals.   (11)
       
11 (10) Leaves 1.3--2 cm × 2--4 mm; petals ca. 0.5 cm   10 C. baischanense
+ Leaves 0.5--1 cm × 1--2 mm; petals 1--1.3 cm   11 C. morrisonense
       
12 (3) Leaves ovate, oblong, or elliptic.   (13)
+ Leaves linear-lanceolate, lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, or oblanceolate.   (16)
       
13 (12) Plants stout, 40--100 cm tall; leaves 5--8 × 1.5--4 cm.   (14)
+ Plants slender, 15--60 cm tall; leaves 1--4 × 0.3--1.5 cm.   (15)
       
14 (13) Leaves and bracts opposite   12 C. davuricum
+ Leaves and bracts 3-verticillate   13 C. verticifolium
       
15 (13) Stems glabrescent; petals ca. 2 × as long as sepals   14 C. wilsonii
+ Stems pilose and/or glandular pubescent; petals slightly shorter than or equaling sepals   15 C. fontanum
       
16 (12) Leave ovate-lanceolate or oblanceolate.   (17)
+ Leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceolate.   (18)
       
17 (16) Plants perennial; leaves ovate-lanceolate; sepals oblong-lanceolate, ca. 5 mm; petals oblong or obovate, apex bifid   16 C. furcatum
+ Plants annual; leaves oblanceolate; sepals ovate, 2--3 mm; petals spatulate, apex entire   17 C. takasagomontanum
       
18 (16) Leaves lanceolate.   (19)
+ Leaves linear-lanceolate.   (20)
       
19 (18) Leaves 0.2--1 cm wide; sepals lanceolate; petal apex 2-lobed   18 C. falcatum
+ Leaves 1--2 cm wide; sepals ovate-oblong; petal apex entire   19 C. pauciflorum
       
20 (18) Leaves 1--2.5 cm; petals apically 2-lobed for 1/4--1/3 their length   20 C. arvense subsp. strictum
+ Leaves 3--8 cm; petals apically entire, retuse, or crenately 2-lobed.   (21)
       
21 (20) Petals spatulate, apex entire   21 C. subpilosum
+ Petals obovate, apex retuse or crenately 2-lobed.   (22)
       
22 (21) Leaves 3--5 cm × 3--6 mm; sepals lanceolate; petals slightly longer than sepals; capsule ca. 2 × as long as sepals   22 C. tianschanicum
+ Leaves 4--8 cm × 5--15 mm; sepals ovate; petals 2--3 × as long as sepals; capsule 2.5--3 × as long as sepals   23 C. maximum

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