18 CARYOPHYLLACEyE. 



rounding the central farinaceous albumen : radicle superior ; 

 the slender cotyledons occupying the side remote from the 

 funiculus. 



Herb annual, with widely spreading procumbent stems, 

 and oblanceolate leaves, much shorter than the slender inter- 

 nodes. Stipules scarious, distinct, subulate. Flowers in 

 terminal glomerate cymules, white. 



Etymolocjy, &c. Composed of cri(f)a>v, a tube, and the name of the re- 

 lated genus Anychia ; from which it differs by the gamophyllous calyx, no 

 less than by its resupinate seed, &c. 



Geographical Distribution. The single species is a native of the 

 Southern Atlantic States, in sandy soil. 



Note. What are termed the petals are surely the same organs as the 

 " sterile stamens ' ' of Scleranthus. 



PLATE 103. SiPHONYCHiA Americana, Torr. 4" Gray; — a branch, of 

 the natural size (from Augusta, Georgia). 



1. A magnified flower. 



2. Same, with the calyx cut away and spread open. 



3. A detached stamen, more magnified ; inside view. 



4. Magnified pistil, with a part of the walls of the ovary vertically cut 



away, showing the ovule in place. 



5. A seed with a part of the funiculus, magnified. 



6. Vertical section of the same, showing the annular embryo surrounding 



the albumen. 



