66 PARONYCHIE.E. [ILLECEBRUM. 



pressed laterally, keeled, ending in a subulate process. Petals 5, setaceous, 

 very minute. Stamens 5, hypogynous. Ovary ovoid ; style very short, 

 stiginas 2 capitate ; ovule erect. Utricle o-10-fissured at the base, included 

 in the hardened calyx. Seed oblong; embryo curved, lateral. DISTUIB. 

 ; Europe from Denmark southwards, N. Africa. ETYM. doubtful. 



1. I. verticilla'tum, L. ; leaves ovate-oblong or spathulate. 

 Sandy bogs, Devon and Cornwall ; fl. July-Aug. Branched from the root, 



very slender, prostrate ; branches 4-8 in., ascending, covered throughout 



with leaves and tufts of white flowers. Leaees - in. Flowers subsessile, 



shorter than the leaves. Sepals opaque. 



A. SCLERAN THUS, L. K.NAWEL. 



Small, low, tufted, annual or perennial herbs. Leaves opposite, connate, 

 subulate, pungent, often serrulate ; stipules 0. Flowers minute, green, in 

 axillary and terminal cymes or fascicles. Calyx-tube funnel-shaped or 

 urceolate, hardening over the fruit; lobes 4-5, short, erect. Petals 0. 

 Stamens 1, 2, 5, or 10, inserted on the calyx-mouth. Ovary ovoid; 

 styles 2, filiform stigmas capitate ; ovule pendulous from a filiform basal 

 funicle. Utricle indehiscent. Seed lenticular, testa smooth ; embryo 

 annular. DISTRIB. Europe, E. Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand. 

 ETYM. <ric\rip6s, from the indurated perianth. 



1 . S. an'nuus, L. ; calyx-lobes suberect in fruit acute with narrow 

 membranous margin. 



Fields and waste places, ascends above 1,000 ft. in Highlands ; fl. June-Sept. 

 Stem 2-8 in., slender, green, sometimes puberulous. Leaves |-J in., re- 

 curved, often ciliate towards the base, flowers solitary in the lower axils, 

 and fascicled in dichotomous cymes at the ends of the branches. Calyx-tube 

 10-grooved in fruit. DISTRIB. Europe to the Caucasus, N. Africa, Siberia, 

 W. Asia ; introd. in U. States. 



VAR. 1, annum proper ; annual, diffusely branched, internodes long, calyx- 

 lobes as long as the tube or longer, furrows of fruiting-tube deep. VAH. 2, 

 biennis, Renter (sp.); biennial, stem shorter 2 3 in. suberect, internodes 

 short, leaves and flowers smaller, calyx-lobes shorter, furrows on tube 

 shallower. 



2. S. peren nis, L. ; calyx-lobes incurved obtuse with broad searious 

 margins. 



Sandy fields, Radnor, .and on the borders of Norfolk and Suffolk ; fl. June- 

 Aug. Very similar to S. annuus, and perhaps only a sub-species, but more 

 glaucous, with shorter bracts and pubescent calyx-tube. DISTRIB. Europe 

 to the Caucasus, Siberia. 



ORDER XIV*. TAMARISGTNEJE. 



Shrubs or small trees. Leaves very small, often scale-like, imbricate, 

 amplexicaul, exstipulate. Inflorescence of solitary or pauicled axillary 

 spikes. Sepals 5, rarely 4, imbricate in bud. Petals 5, rarely 4, free or 

 connate below, imbricate in bud. Stamens 4, 5, 8 or 10 inserted on the disk, 

 free or connate below ; anthers versatile. Disk hypogynous or slightly 

 perigynous, 10-glandular. Ovary free, 1- or imperfectly 2-5-celled ; styles 



