GENUS i. 



WHITLOW-WORT FAMILY. 



27 



i. Parcnychia argyrocoma (Michx.) Nutt. Silver Whitlow-wort. Fig. 1716. 



Anychia argyrocoma Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 113. 1803. 

 Paronychia argyrocoma Nutt. Gen. i: 160. 1818. 



Stem erect or ascending, much branched, 3'-8' high, 

 clothed with silvery appressed scale-like hairs. Leaves 

 linear, i-nerved, acute or mucronate at the apex, pubes- 

 cent or nearly glabrous ; stipules silvery-white, scarious, 

 entire, usually shorter than the leaves; flowers in fork- 

 ing cymes, subtended and concealed by the large silvery 

 membranous bracts; calyx-segments 2."-2\" long, their 

 awns erect, nearly as long as the segments, pubescent or 

 glabrous ; staminodia minute and much shorter than the 

 filaments or wanting. 



In rocky places, mostly on mountains, Maine, New Hamp- 

 shire and Massachusetts, and from Virginia to Tennessee and 

 Georgia, the northern plant less pubescent than the southern, 

 and more floriferous. Ascends to 4200 ft. in North Carolina. 

 Called also silver chickweed and silverhead. July-Sept. 



2. Paronychia Jamesii T. & G. James' 



Whitlow-wort. Fig. 1717. 

 Paronychia Jamesii T. & G. Fl. N. A. i : 170. 1838. 



Scabrous-pubescent, stems 3'-io' high, much 

 branched from the base. Leaves linear-subulate, 

 10" long or less, the lowest obtuse, the uppermost 

 mucronate or bristle-pointed; stipules entire; flow- 

 ers in small cymes, the branches of the inflorescence 

 ascending; bracts shorter than the calyx; calyx i"- 

 il" long, the segments lanceolate, gradually acumi- 

 nate, tipped with divergent awns of about one- 

 fourth their length; staminodia about as long as the 

 filaments. 



In dry soil, Nebraska and Colorado to Texas and New 

 Mexico. July-Oct. 



3. Paronychia Wardi Rydb. Ward's 

 Whitlow-wort. Fig. 1718. 



Paronychia Wardi Rydb. ; Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 400. 

 1903. 



Branched from a woody base, or simple up 

 to the inflorescence, minutely pubescent, the 

 branches slender. Leaves linear-filiform, 3"-io" 

 long, acute, early deciduous ; branches of the 

 inflorescence spreading, very slender; calyx 

 puberulent, only about i" long; sepals oblong, 

 abruptly acuminate, the short awns at length 

 divergent-ascending. 



In dry or stony soil, Kansas and Colorado to 

 Texas and New Mexico. Aug.-Oct. 



