360 AMARANTH FAMILY. 



* Styles united ; stamens borne on the base of the calyx. 



1. ANYCHIA. Sepals awnless. Stamens 2-3, or only rarely 5. Stigmas 2, sessile. 



Utricle exceeding the calyx. 



2. PARONYCHIA. Sepals awued. Stamens 5. Staminodia sometimes present in the 



form of minute teeth or bristle-like bodies. Utricle inclosed in the calyx. 



* * Styles distinct ; stamens on the throat of the calyx. 



3. SCLERANTHUS. Stamens 5-10. Utricle inclosed in the indurated calyx cup. 



1. ANYCHIA, FORKED CHICKWEED. (Name derived from the 

 same root as the next.) Diffuse, forking plants, in dry soil. 



A. dichdtoma, Michx. Somewhat pubescent, 6'-10' high, with re- 

 peatedly forking short-jointed stems, minute, short-stalked, greenish 

 flowers in the forks, and narrow-lanceolate or oblanceolate leaves ; 

 flowers clustered and nearly sessile ; all summer. 



A. capillacea, DC. Smooth, with longer joints and more slender and 

 erect ; leaves thinner and broader ; flowers stalked, in diffuse inflores- 

 cence. N. Eng., W. and S., with the last. 



2. PARONYCHIA, WHITLOW-WORT. (Greek: a whitlow, and 

 a plant supposed to cure the disease.) Tufted, with minute flowers 

 and silvery dry stipules. 



* Flowers axillary and solitary. 



P. herniarioldes, Nutt. Rough- pubescent ; stems diffuse and pros- 

 trate ; leaves oval or oblong and mucronate ; sepals awl-like. Dry sand 

 ridges, N. Car., S. # ^ ^^ {n duste ^ ^ 



P. argyrdcoma, Nutt. Minutely- pubescent ; forming broad, spread- 

 ing tufts on bare mountains of White Mts., and S., in the Alleghanies to 

 Ga., and on the seacoast, Mass., N. ; leaves linear ; flowers in dense clus- 

 ters and concealed by large silvery bracts ; calyx hairy, the sepals short- 

 awned ; staminodia minute teeth between the stamens. 



P. dichdtoma, Nutt. On rocks, Md., S.; smooth and ascending-, 

 leaves and bracts narrow-awl-shaped; cymes open and forked; sepals 

 short-pointed ; staminodia bristle-like. 



3. SCLERANTHUS, KNAWEL. (Greek : hard flower, referring to 

 the indurated tube of the calyx. ) 



S. Annuus, Linn. Nat. from Eu., in gravelly grounds, around gardens 

 and in lawns ; a very pale little herb, 3'-5' high, very much branched 

 and spreading, with short awl-shaped leaves, and greenish small flowers 

 clustered or sessile in the forks, in late summer and autumn, (i) 



XCIII. AMARANTACEjE, AMARANTH FAMILY. 



Weeds and some ornamental plants, chiefly herbs, essentially 

 like the next family, but the flowers provided with dry and 

 mostly scarious crowded persistent bracts, and the fruit some- 

 times several-seeded. The filaments are often united into a 

 tube or cup. The cultivated sorts are ornamental, like Im- 

 mortelles, on account of their colored dry bracts which do not 

 wither. 



