282 DECANDRIA— DIGYNIA. Scleranthus. 



ought to be as evident in dried as in living specimens. Varieties 

 can rarely stand this test. 



231. SCLERANTHUS. Knawel. 



Linn. Gen. 224. Juss. 314. Fl. Br.457. Lam. t. 374. Gcertn. 



t. 126. 

 Knawel. Dill. Gen. 94. t.3. 



Nat. Orel. Veprcculce.Sl. Linn. MSS. Portulacea. Juss. 86. 

 Akin to Chennpodecc. Br. Pr. 412. lllecehrecc of Brown. 

 Hook. Scot. p. 2. 260. See Br. Pr. 413. 



Cal. inferior, of 1 leaf, tubular and ribbed at the base, con- 

 tracted at the summit of the tube; limb in 5 deep seg- 

 ments ; permanent and hardened after flowering. Cor. 

 none. Filam. from 5 to 10, awl-shaped, erect, often un- 

 equal, shorter than the segments of the calyx, and pro- 

 ceeding from the top of the tube. Anth. roundish, of 2 

 lobes. Germ, superior, roundish. Styles spreading, thread- 

 shaped, the length of the stamens. Stigm. simple, downy. 

 Caps, ovate, very thin, of 1 cell, inclosed in the tube of 

 the calyx. Seeds 2, convex at one side, flat on the other; 

 embryo curved round the outside of the farinaceous 

 albumen. 



Dry rigid herbs, with opposite, linear, combined leaves. Ft. 

 greenish, aggregate, axillary and terminal ; the flowering 

 branches downy at one side only. 



1. S. annuus. Annual Knawel. 



Calyx of the fruit with spreading, taper, acute segments. 

 Stems spreading. 



S. annuus. Linn. Sp. P/. 580. Willd. v. 2. 660. Fl. Dr. 458. Engl. 

 Bot. V.5. t.3b\. Iluok. Scot. 133. Fl. Dan. t.504. Ehrh. 

 Herb. 34. 



S. n. 1551. Hall. Hist. v. 2. 255. 



Polygonon Germanis Knawel. Trag. Hist. 393. f. 



Polygonum selinoides, sive Knawel. Ger. Em. 566. f. 



Knawel. Raii Stjn. ]59. 



Upright Knawel. Pet. H. Brit. t. O.f. 6, bad. 



In dry sandy fields, common. 



Annual. July. 



Root small,, tapering. Stems numerous, widely spreading, and 

 partly decumbent, round, leafy, a little downy, branched and 

 many-flowered at the upper part. Leaves linear, acute, pale 

 green, combined at the base by a membranous fringed border. 

 Fl, small, green, nearly sessile, partly ^xillary, parUy collected 



