370 THE ILLECEBRUM FAMILY. 
ascending, from 1 to 3 inches in height, covered in their whole length 
with the shining white whorls of flowers, in the axils of opposite, 
obovate, green leaves. Sepals somewhat enlarged after flowering, but 
even then but little more than half a line long, green on the inner edge, 
but thickened and of a pure white on the back, with a fine point, giving 
the whole calyx a 5-ribbed form, something like the capsule of a Sedum. 
Petals, stamens, and ovary very minute. 
In sands, and especially in sandy marshes, in central and southern 
Europe, from the west coast to the Russian frontier. In Britain, only 
in Devonshire, Cornwall, and the Channel Islands. Fl. summer. 
IV. SCLERANTHUS. KNAWEL. 
‘ Small, much branched herbs, with opposite narrow leaves, connected 
by a narrow, transparent edge at the base; and numerous small, green 
flowers, in crowded terminal cymes. Calyx-tube ovoid or campanulate, 
the limb 5-lobed. Stamens 5, alternating with 5 small filaments, all 
inserted at the top of the calyx-tube. Styles 2. Seeds 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, 
Root annual. Calyx-lobes pointed : i : . LL. S. annuus. 
Stock perennial. Calyx-lobes obtuse, edged ‘with white | ; . 2. S. perennis. 
1. S. annuus, Linn. (fig. 837). Annual A.—A much branched, erect 
or spreading annual, 2 to 3 inches high, glabrous or very slightly downy. 
Leaves very narrow, 2 to 3 lines long. Calyx enlarged after flowering 
to about 14 lines in length ; the lobes stiff, erect, narrow, 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. Abundant in England, Ireland, and 
southern Scotland, but scarce in the north. Fl. all summer. 
2. S. perennis, Linn. (fig. 838). Perennial K.—This species so much 
resembles S. annuus, that it is by some considered 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 S. annuus, 
it is everywhere more local. In Britain it appears to be confined to 
eastern and southern England. 1. all summer. 
LXII. CHENOPODIACEA. THE GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 
Herbs or undershrubs, often succulent, sometimes leafless, 
more usually with alternate or rarely opposite leaves, and no 
stipules; the small, herbaceous flowers usually in sessile clus- 
ters, either in axillary or terminal spikes or panicles, and often 
