228 PARONYCHIACE.E. 



ORD. XXXIV. PABONYCHIACE^. THE KNOT- 

 GRASS TRIBE. 



Sepals usually 5 ; petals 5, minute, inserted between 

 the lobes of the calyx, sometimes wanting ; stamenc 

 varying in number, opposite the petals, if equalling them 

 in number ; ovary not combined with the calyx ; pistils 

 2 5 j fruit 1 -celled, opening with 3 valves, or not at 

 all. Small, branching, herbaceous, or somewhat shrubby 

 plants, with sessile undivided leaves and minute flowers, 

 principally confined to the south of Europe and north 

 of Africa, where they grow in the most barren places, 

 covering with a thick vegetation soil which is incapable 

 of bearing anything else. A few only are found so far 

 north as Great Britain, and nearly all of these are con- 

 fined to the southern shores. 



* Fruit 1-seeded, enclosed in the calyx. 



1. CORRIGIOLA (Strapwort). Sepals 5 ; petals 5, as 

 long as the calyx ; stamens 5 ; stigmas 3, sessile. (Name 

 from corrigia, a strap, from the shape of the leaves.) 



2. HERNIARIA (Rupture-wort). Sepals 5 ; petals 5, 

 resembling barren filaments ; stamens 5,- inserted on a 

 fleshy ring ; stigmas 2, nearly sessile. (Name from the 

 disease for which the plant was formerly supposed to 

 be a remedy.) 



3. ILL^CEBRUM (Knot-grass). Sepals 5, coloured, 

 thickened, ending in an awl-shaped point ; petals 0, or 

 5 ; stigmas 2. (Name from the Latin illGcebra, an 

 attraction.) 



~* Fruit, a many-seeded capsule. 



4. POLYCARPON (All-seed). Sepals keeled at the 

 back ; petals 5, small, notched ; stamens 3 5 ; stigmas 

 3, nearly sessile ; fruit 1 -celled, 3-valved. (Name from 

 the Greek polys, many, and carpos, fruit.) 



5. SPERGULARIA (Sandwort Spurrey). Sepals flat ; 

 petals ovate, entire, as large as the calyx ; styles usually 

 3. (Name from the resemblance to the next genus.) 



