Paronychia.) CV. ILLECEBRACEX (BAKER AND WRIGHT). 11 
2, PARONYCHIA, Juss.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 15. 
Perianth 5-partite, herbaceous or finally coriaceous; segments 
oblong, bearing a mucro on the back below the hooded tip. Stamens 
usually 5, perigynous; filaments short; staminodes often alternating 
with the fertile stamens. Ovary subglobose; ovule solitary, basal ; 
style very short, bifid at the stigmatose apex. Fruit a membranous 
utricle included in the persistent perianth. Seeds resupinate or 
obliquely ascending; embryo annular.—Annual or perennial herbs. 
Leaves opposite, stipulate. Flowers in dense axillary and terminal 
clusters, mixed with numerous scarious bracts. 
Species about 40, chiefly in the Mediterranean region and America. 
Bracts much larger than the tlowers ; perianth-segments 
cucullate 5 : : 4 i 5 c . . 1. P. argentea. 
Bracts not much larger than.the flowers 
Perianth becoming scarious; segments cucullate . 2. P. bryoides. 
Perianth remaining herbaceous; segments not cucullate . 3, P. somaliensis, 
1. P. argentea, Lam. Fl. Franc. iii. 230. A densely tufted 
perennial herb. Stems slender, wiry, spreading, pubescent, 3-6 in. | 
long. Leaves opposite; lower oblanceolate, mucronate ; upper shorter, 
oblong, acute; stipules ovate, white, scarious. Flowers in dense 
terminal clusters; bracts numerous, ovate, white, scarious, }—} in. long, 
quite hiding the flowers. Perianth ,); in. long, pubescent ; segments. 
oblong, cucullate, green with a narrow white border. Stamens 
included; staminodes minute, subulate.-— DCU. Prodr. iii, 371; 
Schweinf. Beitr. Fl. Aethiop. 59. Jilecebrum Paronychia, Linn, Sp. 
Pl. ed. i. 206; Sibth. Fl. Greeca, t. 246. 
Wile Land. Dongola: near Chandek, Ehrenberg. 
Also in the Mediterranean region. 
2. P. bryoides, Hochst. ex A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss. i. 302. A 
much-branched perennial herb, of which only the very tips of the 
stems protrude from the surface of the soil. Leaves few, deciduous, 
oblong, acute, about as long as the bracts. Flowers in small terminal 
clusters, quite hidden by the copious white scarious bracts. Perianth 
1 lin. long ; segments cucullate, becoming scarious. Stamens included. 
—Schweinf. Beitr. Fl. Abyss. 59; Engl. Hochgebirgsfl. Trop. Afr.215. 
Nile Land. Abyssinia: summit of Mount Silke, 13,900 ft., Schimper, 661! 
summit of Mount Bachit, 15,000 ft., Schimper. 
3. P. somaliensis, Baker in Kew Bulletin, 1895, 226. A densely 
tufted perennial herb, Stems slender, glabrous. Leaves sessile, linear, 
acute, 2-3 lin. long; stipules large, white, lanceolate, scarious, 
Flowers in globose terminal heads, Perianth 1—1} lin. long; segments 
lanceolate, 2 much shorter than the others, acute, not cucullate, 
