164 

 CLII. SCLERANTHEiE 



Sclebakthe^, Link Enum. 417. (1821); Dec. Prodr. 3. 377. (1828) [a section of Parony- 

 chiece;]a § of Illecebrese, Lindlex/s Synopsis, 217. (1829.) — Q,ueriaceje, a % of Illece- 

 brese, Dec. 1. c. (1828.)—? Minuartieje, ibid. 



Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with a single seed attached to a cord 

 arising from the base of the cell, an inferior tubular indurated calyx, perigy- 

 nous stamens, and an embryo curved round mealy albumen, with the radicle 

 next the hilum. 



Anomalies, 



Essential Character. Flowers monoclinous. Calyx 4- or 5-toothed, with an urceolato 

 tube. Stamens from 1 to 10, inserted into the orifice of the tube. Ovarium simple, superior, 

 1-seeded. Styles 2 or 1, emarginate at the apex. Fruit a membranous utricle enclosed 

 within the hardened calyx. Seed pendulous from the apex of a funiculus, which arises from 

 the bottom of the cell ; embryo cylindrical, curved round farinaceous albumen. — Small herbs. 

 Leaves opposite, without stipules. Flowers axillary, sessile. 



Affinities. Referred by Decandolle to Illecebreae, from which they differ 

 in absence of petals and stipules, these plants appear to me to constitute a dis- 

 tinct order, more nearly related to Chenopodere, from which they chiefly differ 

 in the indurated tube of the calyx, from the orifice of which the stamens pro- 

 ceed, and in the number of the latter exceeding that of the divisions of the 

 calyx. The tribe of Minuartias is probably not distinguishable from Scleran- 

 theffi, notwithstanding the supposed presence of petals, which would perhaps 

 be more properly called abortive stamens. 



Geography. Natives of barren fields in Europe, Asia, and North America, 

 and in sterile places in countries of the southern hemisphere beyond the tropics. 

 A single species is described from Peru. 



Properties. Uninteresting weeds, of no known use. 



Examples. Mniarum, Scleranthus. 



CLIII. CHENOPODEiE. The Goosefoot Tribe. 



Atriplice?, Juss. Gen. 83. (1789). Chenopodes, Vent. Tabl.2. 253. (1799); R.Brown 



Prodr. 405. (1810); Lindley's Synopsis, 213. (1829). 



Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with erect seeds, an embryo curved 

 round mealy albumen, radicle next the hilum, perigynous stamens, and herba- 

 ceous ebracteate calyxes. 



Anomalies. Stamens sometimes hypogynous. 



Essential Character. — Calyx deeply divided, sometimes tubular at the base, persistent, 

 with an imbricated aestivation. Stamens inserted into the base of the calyx, opposite its seg- 

 ments, and equal to them in number or fewer. Ovarium single, superior, or occasionally ad- 

 hering to the tube of the calyx, with a single ovulum attached to the base of the cavity ; style 

 2 or 4 divisions, rarely simple ; stigmas undivided. Fruit membranous, not valvular, some- 

 times baccate. Embryo curved round farinaceous albumen, or spiral, or doubled together 

 without albumen ; radicles next the hilum ;' plumula inconspicuous. — Herbaceous plants or 

 undcr-shrubs.. Leaves alternate without stipula;, occasionally opposite. Flowers small, 

 sometimes polygamous. 



Affinities The difficulty of distinguishing these from Amarantacese has 

 been discussed under the latter order. They are distinguished from Phytolac- 

 ceae, independently of the simplicity of the structure of their ovarium, by their 

 stamens never exceeding the number of the segments of the calvx, to which 



