CEASSTJLACE^. 219 



in crowded, terminal cymes. Calyx-tube ovoid or canipaniilate, the limb 5- 

 lobed. Petals none, but represented by 5 small filaments alternating with 

 the 5 stamens, all inserted at the top of the calyx-tube. Styles 2. Seed 

 solitary in a little nut, enclosed in the somewhat hardened tube of the 

 calyx. 



Besides the two British species, the genus comprises two or three from 

 southern Europe, closely resembling them, and perhaps mere varieties. 



Boot annual. Calyx-lobes pointed . 1. Annual S. 



Stock perennial. Calyx-lobes obtuse, edged with white 2. Feremiial 3. 



1. Annual Scleranth. Scleranthus annuus, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 351. Knawel.) 

 A much branched, erect or spreading annual, 2 to 3 inches high, gla- 

 brous or very slightly downy. Leaves very narrow, 2 to 8 lines long. 

 Calyx enlarged after flowering to about li lines in length ; the lobes stiti', 

 erect, narrow, and pointed, about equal in length to the tube. 



In fields and waste places, over the whole of Europe and western Asia, 

 except the extreme north. Abmidant in England, Ireland, and southern 

 Scotland, but scarce in the north. Fl. all summer. 



2. Perennial Scleranth. Scleranthus perennis, Linn. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 352.) 



Tliis species so much resembles the animal S. that it is by some consi- 

 dered as a mere variety, but the root and tufted lower part of the stem will 

 last two or three years. The flowering stems, usually about 2 inches high, 

 are- more rigid, the flowers more densely collected in terminal cymes, and 

 the calyx is rather smaller, with obtuse divisions, bordered by a much more 

 conspicuous white edging. 



With nearly the same general range in Europe and Asia as \h.e annual S., 

 it is everywhere more local. In Britain, it appears to be confined to east- 

 em England. Fl. all summer. 



XXXI. THE CRASSULA FAMILY. CEASSULACE^. 



Herbs or shrubs, with succulent leaves, all or only the upper 

 ones usually alternate, rarely all opposite, no stipules, and 

 flowers in terminal racemes or cymes. Sepals 3 or more, 

 usually 5, sometimes 15 to 20, cohering at the base. Petals as 

 many, sometimes united in a single corolla. Stamens as many, 

 or twice as many, inserted -nith the petals at the base of the 

 calyx. Ovary superior ; the carpels as many as the petals, 

 and free, usually with a small, flat scale at their base, and 

 forming as many distinct capsules, each containing several seeds 

 attached to the inner angle. Embryo straight, witb a thin, 

 fleshy albumen. 



A numerous family, extending over the greater part of the globe, but par- 

 ticularly abounding in soutli-westem Africa and in the rocky districts of 

 Europe and central Asia. The exact concordance in number of the parts 



