PAnONYCHIACE*. 181 



ill f.isciclcs of 3 or 4 in the axils of tlie loaves, and so appearing: to he 

 ill wlioils, with scarious hracts at the hose. Calyx in fruit, pure 

 whiU", ojiaipu', the segments about -,'0 inch long. I'lunt glabrous. 



Whorled lUecehrum. 



German, quirlbliilhige Knorpdhlume. 



Tribe II.— SCLERANTIIE.E. 



Sepals united into a tube at the base. Petals none, unless the 

 barren tilamonts represent them. Stipules absent. 



GENUS 1 K.— S OLERANTHUS. Linn. 



Calyx tube funiielshapcd or ovoid-urccolate; limb 5-, very rarely 

 4-lobed; lobes herbaceous, with scarious margins, ovate, obtuse or 

 acute. Petals ( ?) none. Stamens 5, inserted in the throat of the 

 calyx tube, and opposite to its segments, usually alternating with 5 

 barren filaments ( ?). Ovary 1-cellcd, containing a single ovule ; stigmas 

 2, elevated on 2 distinct styles. Fruit roundish-ovoid, membranous, 

 indehiscent, envelo|)ed in the tube of the calyx, which becomes en- 

 larged and indurated. 



Herbs generally dichotomously branched, with ojjposite linear or 

 subulate leaves connate at the base, destitute of stipules. Flowers 

 minute, sessile in latei-al and terminal fascicles, or solitary in the forks 

 of the stem. 



The name of this genus of plants is derived from the Greek words aK\r\p6t, hard, 

 auJ uiOor, a flower, fi-om the dry scarioso texture of tlie calyx. 



SPECIES I.-SCLERANTHUS ANNUUS. Linn. 

 Plates MCLXXIV. MCLXXV. 

 BitU, Fl. Gall, et Germ. E.xsicc No. 20. 



Annual or biennial. Flowers solitary in the forks of the stem and 

 branches, and generally dichotomously fasciculate in the apex of the 

 branches, or all in terminal fascicles. Calyx segments strapshaped- 

 triangular or triangular, acute or subacute, with a very narrow mem- 

 branous border. 



Var. a, gemdnus. 

 Plate MCLXXIV. 

 Annual. Intemodes elongated. Fruiting calyx tube with 10 



