426 NYCTAGINACEJE. (POUR-o'CLOCK FAMILY.) 



Embryo niouocotyledonous. — Low herbs, with thick opposite petioled une- 

 qual leaves, axillary or terminal peduncles, and showy flowers in solitary 

 heads. (Xanie from a^pos, rjracefuL) 



1. A. fragrans, A'utt. More or less viscid-pubescent, from a perennial 

 root ; leaves ohlonj^ or ovate, truncate or cuneate at base ; involucre conspic- 

 uous, of broad ovate white and scarious bracts; flowers white, fragrant, 4-10" 

 long; fruit coriaceous, obpyramidal, with narrow undulate coarsely reticulated 

 wings. — From W. Iowa to Utah and N. Mex. 



Order 85. ILLECEBRACE^E. (Knotwort Family.) 



llerhs, lollh mostly opposite and entire leaves, scarious stipules (except 

 in Scleranthus), a 4-d-foothed or -parted herbaceous or coriaceous persis- 

 tent calyx, no petals, stamens home on the calt/x, as many as the lobes and 

 opposite them or fewer, styles 2 and often united, and fruit a 1-seeded 

 utricle. Seed upon a basal funiele, the embryo (in ours) surrounding 

 the mealy albumen. — Small diffu^^e or tufted herbs, with small greenish 

 or whitish flowers in clusters or dichotomous cymes. 



1. Anycliia. Stamens on the basj of the 5-parted awnless calyx. Styles hardly any. 



2. Paroiiycliia. Stamens on the bas§ of the 6-paited calyx ; the sepals hooded at the 



summit and bristle-pointed. Style 1, 2-cleft at the top. 



3. Scleranthus. Stamens borne on the throat of the indurated 5-cleft and pointless calyx. 



Styles 2 Stipules none. 



1. ANYCHIA, Michx. Forked Chickweed. 



Sepals .5, scarcely concave, indistinctly mucronate on the back, greenisli. 

 Stamens 2-3, rarely 5. Stigmas 2, sessile. Utricle larger than the calyx. 

 Kadicle turned downward. — Small, many times forked annuals, with small 

 stipules, and minute flowers in the forks, produced all summer. (Same deri- 

 vation as the next genus.) 



1. A. dichotoma, Michx. More or less pubescent, short-jointed, low and 

 spreading ; leaves somewhat petioled, mostly very narrowly lanceolate or ob- 

 lanceolate ; ^oz<;ers nearly sessile and somewhat clustered. — Mostly in open 

 places, N. Eng. to Fla., west to Minn, and Ark. 



2. A. capillacea, DC. Smooth, lomjer-jointed, slender and erect ; leaves 

 thinner, broader and longer (5-15" \ou^) ; flowers more stalked and diffuse. 

 (A. dichotoma, var. capillacea, Torr.) — Diy woodlands, same range as the 

 last, but more abundant northward. 



2. PARONYCHIA, Tourn. Whitlow-wort. 



Sepals 5, linear or oblong, concave, awned at the apex. Petals (or stami- 

 nodia) bristle-form, or minute teeth, or none. Stamens 5. Style 2-cleft at 

 the apex. Utricle enclosed in the calyx. Radicle ascending. — Tufted herbs 

 (ours perennial), with dry and silvery stipules, and clustered flowers. (Greek 

 name for a whitlow, and for a plant thought to cure it.) 



1. P. argyrocoma, Xutt. Forming broad tufts, branched, s;j/-eai/i'«^ ,- 

 leaves linear {^' long) ; flowers densely clustered, surrounded by conspicuous 

 large silvery bracts; calyx hairy, short-awned ; petals mere teeth between the 



