ILLECEBRACE^— KNOT-GRASS TRIBE 19 



flowers and undivided leaves. The few British genera are mostly found in 

 the southern counties of the kingdom ; and the plants of this order occur 

 chiefly in Southern Europe or Northern Africa. 



1. Strapwort (Cmrigiola). — Sepals 5 ; petals 5, as long as the calyx ; 

 stamens 5; stigmas 3, sessile; fruit 1 -seeded, inclosed in the calyx. Name 

 signifying a little strap, from the form of the leaves. 



2. Rupture-wort {Hemidria). — Sepals 5 ; petals 5, resembling barren 

 filaments ; stamens 5, inserted on a fleshy ring ; stigmas 2, nearly sessile ; 

 fruit 1-seeded, inclosed in the calyx. Name from the ailment Avhich it was 

 supposed to cure. 



3. Knot-grass (IlUcebntm). — Sepals 5, coloured, thickened, and termi- 

 nating in an awl-shaped point ; petals 0, or 5 ; stigmas 2 ; fruit 1-seeded, 

 inclosed in the calyx. Name from the Latin ilUcehra, an attraction. 



4. All-seed (Folycdrpon). — Sepals 5 ; petals 5, notched ; stamens 3 — 5 ; 

 stigmas 3, nearly sessile ; fruit 1-celled, 3-valved, many-seeded. Name from 

 the word polys, many, and karpos, fruit. 



1. Strapwort (Corrigiola). 



Sand Strap-wort (C. littoi-dlis). — Stem spreading, leafy ; flowers 

 stalked in small clusters ; stem-leaves oblong, narrow below. Plant annual. 

 This rare and pretty little Strapwort spreads itself over the ground, bearing, 

 from August to December, tufts of little white flowers. It grows on Slapton 

 Sands, and near the Start Point, in Devonshire ; and is found in great abun- 

 dance on the banks of the Looe Pool, near Helston, in Cornwall. It is the 

 Cmrigiole of the French, the Lingenkraut of the Germans, the Eiempjis of the 

 Dutch, and the Corrigiola of the Italians. 



2. Rupture-wort {Hemidria). 



Smooth Rupture-wort (H. gldhra). — Stem pi'ostrate, clothed with 

 minute curved hairs ; leaves oval, narrowing towards the base, more or less 

 hairy, in some cases fringed with delicate hairs ; flowers sessile, axillary. 

 Plant perennial. This varies very much in some of its characters. In one 

 variety the leaves are quite smooth, and in the other the leaves have some- 

 times hairs on the surface, with a delicate fringe around the edges, like an 

 eyelash. Some botanists think the latter, which grows at the Lizard, a per- 

 manent distinction, and describe the plant in this condition as a different 

 species, under the name of H. ciliata. The plant is sometimes said to re- 

 semble wild thyme in its habit, but the flowers are green. They appear from 

 July to September, either in tufts from the axils of the leaves, or the clusters 

 form a crowded spike interspersed with leaves. The plant is not common, 

 occurring chiefly in Cambridge, Lincoln, Norfolk and Suffolk; and in the 

 western parts of Kerry, in Ireland, though nowhere in any abundance. A 

 variety of a more hairy nature is by some botanists termed H. hirsuta. 

 Its hairs are spreading, but in other respects it resembles the ordinary form. 

 Its only British locality is near Christchurch, in Hampshire. 



3. Knot-grass (IlUcebrum). 



Whorled Knot-grass (/. verticilldium). — Leaves broadly egg-shaped, 

 smooth ; stipules white, chaffy and jagged at the margin ; stems slender. 



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