870 THE 1LLECEBRUM FAMILY. [Lilecebrum. 
Seed solitary, i in a capsule enclosed in the calyx, but,opening at the base 
in 5 or 10 valves, which remain cohering at the top. 
A genus now reduced to a single species, but which formerly included 
several south European ones, now forming the genus Paronychia. 
1, £. verticillatum, Linn. (fig. 834). Whorled Illecebrum.—A small, 
glabrous, much branched annual, prostrate and spreading at the base; the 
branches ascending, from 1 to 3 inches in height, covered in their hats 
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, FU. summer. 
IV. SCLERANTHUS. SCLERANTH., 
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 5 ‘< > » 1. &. annuus. 
Stock perennial. Calyx-lobes obtuse, edged with white ; ‘ - 2. S. perennis. 
1, S. annuus, Linn. (fig. 835). Annual Scleranth, Knawel.—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 13 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. 7. all summer. 
2, S.perennis, Linn. (fig. 836). Perennial Scleranth.—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 Sowering 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 
edgin 
ith 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. Fl, all summer, 
