Illecehrwn.'\ 



XXXIY. PARONYCIIIACE^, 



153 



7, 8. — Stems numerous from the top of the root, 

 Leaves linear obtuse, somewhat fleshy and very 

 small. 



spreading, slender. 

 glaucous. Floivers 



* 



2. Herniaria Linn. Kupture-wort. 



Cal 5"partite, permanent. Pet 5, filiform, resembling ste- 

 rile stamens, and inserted with them. Stam. 5, inserted upon 

 a fleshy disk. Stigmas 2, nearly sessile. Fruit indehiscent, 

 1-seeded. Leaves opposite. — Named from the plant having 

 been supposed to be useful in the cure of Hernia. 



1. H. glabra L. (glabrous B.) ; stems prostrate herbaceous 

 clothed with minute decurved hairs woody in the base in age, 

 leaves oval a little tapering at the base nearly glabrous or 

 ciliate and more or less hairy, clusters of sessile flowers axillary, 

 calyx glabrous or with small hairs. — a. leaves quite glabrous. 

 E. B, t. 206. — /3. leaves ciliated and sometimes with hairs on 

 the surface. H. glabra /3. Bab. H. clliata Bah. : E. B. S. t. 



2857. 



Near Newmarket, Lizard, Cornwall, and in some other of the 

 southern counties of England. Jersey and Guernsey. Western part 

 of Kerry, Ireland. 1/.. 7,8. — The Lizard affords both the gla- 

 brous and hairy states of this variable plant ; and there Is every gra- 

 dation in the inflorescence between it and the H. ciViata, In general 

 even the most glabrous states more resemble Mr. Babington's figure 

 of H. clliata, than Smith's figure of H. glabra, which represents an 

 undeveloped state of the plant. 



2. H. "^hirsuta L. (hairy R.) ; stems herbaceous prostrate 

 clothed with patent hairs, leaves oval oblong, clusters of sessile 

 flowers axiilai^y, calyx hairy. E. B. t. 1379 ? 



Sandy ground near Barnet ; Hudson. T^ . 7, 8. — Messrs. Milne 

 and Gordon, in their Lndlgen. Bot. i, 455, say, "We found it in a 

 field at Finchley and at Colney Hatch, near Barnet, where Hudson 

 found it," but as Mr. Babington has ascertained the Finchley plant to 

 be H. glabra^ it is also probable that Hudson's one was the hairy state 

 of that species which is often cultivated under the name of H. hirsutay 

 and to which Smith's Cornish specimens belong. What was Intended 

 by the figure in E. Sot. it is difficult to say. 



3. Illecebrum Linn. 



Knot-grass 



Sep, 5, permanent, cartilaginous, cucullate, with an awl- 

 shaped point, at the back below the apex. Pet 0, or reduced 

 to 5 subulate scales. Stain. 5. Stigmas 2, nearly sessile. Caps. 

 1-seeded, irregularly 5- or 10-valved. Leaves opposite.— 

 Name: illecehra, ^n enticement or attraction^ anciently given to 



a showy tribe of plants, now confined to a genus possessing few 

 charms. 



H 5 



