Paronychia.] cv. illecebrace^e (baker and wright). 11 



2. PARONYCHIA, Juss. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 15. 



Perianth 5-partite, herbaceous or finally coriaceous ; segments 

 oblong, bearing a mucro on the back below the hooded tip. Stamens 

 usually 5, perigynous ; filaments short ; staminodes often alternating 

 with the fertile stamens. Ovary subglobose ; ovule solitary, basal ; 

 style very short, bifid at the stigmatose apex. Fruit a membranous 

 utricle included in the persistent perianth. Seeds resupinate or 

 obliquely ascending; embryo annular. — Annual or perennial herbs. 

 Leaves opposite, stipulate. Flowers in dense axillary and terminal 

 clusters, mixed with numerous scarious bracts. 



Species about 40, chiefly in the Mediterranean region and America. 



Bracts much larger than the flowers ; perianth-segments 



cucuUate 1. P. argenfea. 



Kracts not much larger than the flowers 



Perianth becoming scarious ; segments cucuUate . . 2. P. Iryoldes. 



Perianth remaining herbaceous; segments not cucuUate . 3. P. somaliensis. 



1. P. argentea. Lam. Fl. Franc, iii. 230. A densely tufted 

 perennial herb. Stems slender, wiry, spreading, pubescent, 3-G in. 

 long. Leaves opposite ; lower oblanceolate, mucronate ; upper shorter, 

 oblong, acute ; stipules ovate, white, scarious. Flowers in dense 

 terminal clusters; bracts numerous, ovate, white, scarious, \-\ in. long, 

 quite hiding the flowers. Perianth ^\ in. long, pubescent ; segments 

 oblong, cucuUate, green with a narrow white border. Stamens 

 included; staminodes minute, subulate. — DC. Prodr. iii. 371; 

 Schweinf. Beitr. Fl. Aethiop. 59. Illecebrum Paronychia^ Linn. Sp. 

 PI. ed. i. 206 ; Sibth. Fl. Grseca, t. 24G. 



Xrile ^and. Dongola : near Chandek, Ehrenberg, 

 Also in the Mediterranean region. 



2. P. bryoides, llochsi. ex A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss, i. 302. A 

 much-branched perennial herb, of which only the very tips of the 

 stems protrude from the surface of the soil. Leaves few, deciduous, 

 oblong, acute, about as long as the bracts. Flowers in small terminal 

 clusters, quite hidden by the copious white scarious bracts. Perianth 

 1 lin. long ; segments cucuUate, becoming scarious. Stamens included. 

 — Schweinf. Beitr. Fl. Abyss. 59 ; Engl. Hochgebirgsfl. Trop. Afr.215. 



xrile ]band. Abyssinia : summit of Mount Silke, 13,900 ft., Schimper, 661 ! 

 summit of Mount Hachit, 15,000 ft., Schimper, 



3. P. somaliensis. Baker in Keio Bulletin, 1895, 226. A densely 

 tufted perennial herb. Stems slender, glabrous. Leaves sessile, linear, 

 acute, 2-3 lin. long ; stipules large, white, lanceolate, scarious. 

 Flowers in globose terminal heads. Perianth 1-1^ lin. long; segments 

 lanceolate, 2 much shorter than the others, acute, not cucuUate, 



