PARONTCHIE^. (WHITLOW- WORT FAMILY.) 159 



Calyx parted into 5, keeled, scarious-margiued lobes, hooded at 

 a])cx. Petals 5, obovate to oblong. Stamens 3-5, inserted on a perigy- 

 nous disk. Style tiifid at apex. Capsule 3-valved. Seeds with curv- 

 ed back and straight face — Herbs with scarious-silvery stipules aad 

 bracts. 



* Stipules and hracts all scarious ; bracts emlracing base of calyx. 



1. P: tetrapliyllMiii, L. .1 to .2, stems many times 2-3- 

 forked, from a diffuse base. Leaves oblong-spathulate to elliptical, 

 those of stem 4:-ra?ihed, of branches opposite. Cymes rather loose ; 

 pedicels longer than calyx ; sepals ovate, mucronate ; petals notched^ 

 half as long as calyx ; Stamens 3 ; style shorter than ovary — Spring 

 and Summer — Roadsides everywhere. 



2. P. Arabicum, Boiss. © .02 to .04 ; stems prostrate. 

 Leaves small, fleshy, opposite, Unear-oUong . Cymes dense ; pedicels as 

 long as calyx ; sepals oblong, obtuse, with broad, scarious margin ; 

 petals oblong-linear, as long as calyx ; stamens 5 ; style twice as long 

 as ovary — March — Sandy places ; Et-Tih and Sinai. 



* * Stipules and tracts with green nerve ; tracts shorter than pedicels. 



3. P. §ucculeiatiim, Del. .02 to .1, stems Fig. 

 prostrate. Leaves fleshy, in fours or opposite, oblong- 

 spathulate to linear -oblong, tapering into a petiole. 

 Cyme loose, few-flowered ; pedicels often longer than 

 calyx ; sepals oblong, obtuse, the interior longer ; 

 petals oblong-obovate, as long as calyx ; style longer 

 than ovary — Spring — Sands ; Beirut ; southern Pales- 

 tine, and -southward to Egypt and Sinai. succuTentum' 



(6) Capsule, showing the 3-fid styles. 



3. POL-YCAISPiEA, Lam. Polycaep^a. 



Calyx parted into 5, somewhat flattened, acute, scarious-margined 

 lobes. Petals 5, lanceolate, half as long as calyx. Stamens 5, some- 

 times with 5 staminoids opposite the petals, all inserted in a perigynous 

 disk ; style capitate at apex or tripartite. Capsule 3-valved ; seeds 

 pear-shaped, somewhat incurved — Herbs or shrubs, resembling Poly- 

 carpon. 



P. fragilis, Del. If Qumeilah. MalcMr. .1 to .2, appressed- 

 crisp-tomentellous ; stems herbaceous, prostrate, bran- Fig. 7-i. 

 ching, brittle. Leaves somewhat rigid, opposite or 

 clustered, minute, lanceolate, acutifih, with revolute mar- 

 gins. Cymes dense, terminal, panicled ; calyx-lobes 

 ovate, with broad, scarious margin, and prominent 

 green nerve, mucronate ; style as lor,g as ovary ; stigma 

 capitate ; seeds 8-10 — Spring — Sinai, and northward 

 and eastward. 



4. HER^i'IARIA, L. HerxNiaria. 



Calyx-lobes 4-5 ; plano-concave. Petals filiform. Stamens 4-5, 

 inserted at the throat of the calyx. Styles 2, free or united, bifid at 



(a) flower of P, 



