536 SCLERANTHACEJ5. 



5; styles 2; fruit 1 -seeded, covered by the hardened 

 calyx. (Name from the Greek scleros, hard, and anthos, 

 a flower, from the hardness of the calyx.) 



SCLERANTHUS ANNUA (Annual Knawel). 



1. SCLERANTHUS (Knawel). 



1. S. annua (Annual Knawel). Calyx, when in fruit, 

 spreading, acute, with a narrow whitish margin ; root 

 annual. Corn-fields, especially on a gravelly soil, com- 

 mon. A small plant, 2 4 inches high, with nume- 

 rous tangled stems, awl-shaped leaves, and green flowers, . 

 which grow either in the forks of the stems, or in ter- 

 minal tufts. Fl. July November. Annual. 



* S. perennis (Perennial Knawel) has prostrate stems, 

 blunt calyx-leaves, with a broad margin, and perennial 

 roots. It grows in dry sandy fields, in Norfolk and 

 Suffolk 



