368 
lxxi. scleranthace^e. [ Sclerantlius. 
wing. Stam. 5. Styles 2. Seeds horizontal ; integument sim- 
ple, membranous. — Named from sal, salt. From many of 
this tribe alkaline salt is abundantly obtained, as implied by 
the name of our only British species. 
1. S. Kali L. ( pricldy S.); stems herbaceous prostrate, leaves 
subulate spinous scabrous, flowers axillary solitary, segments 
of the enlarged perianth cartilaginous as long as their spreading 
roundish wings. E. B. t. €34. 
Sandy sea-shores, frequent. 0. 7. — Stem angled, very much 
branched. Flowers pale-greenish, sessile, with 3 leaf-like bracteas at 
the base of each. 
Ord. LXXI. SCLERANTHACEiE Link. 
Perianth of 1 piece, tubular; limb 4—5-cleft. Stamens 1 — 10, 
perigynous, inserted into the mouth of the tube. Ovary superior, 
simple. 1 -celled. Styles 2, or 1 emarginate at the apex. Ovules 
solitary, or rarely 2, suspended from the apex of a free filiform 
column or cord that arises from the bottom of the cell. Fruit 
a utricle , inclosed within the hardened tube of the perianth. 
Seed solitary. Embryo cylindrical, curved round the farinaceous 
albumen. — Small inconspicuous herbs. Leaves opposite , without 
stipules. Flowers minute. 
1. Sceeranthus Linn. Knawel. 
Perianth 5-cleft. Stam. 10; 5 or more frequently abortive 
or wanting. Styles 2. — Named from a shr/pog, hard, and avtiog, a 
flower ; from the indurated nature of the floral covering. 
1. S. dminus L. ( annual K.); calyx of the fruit with erect 
or erect patent rather acute segments edged with a narrow 
white membrane, stems spreading, root annual. E. B. t. 351. 
Corn-fields, frequent. 0 or rarely $ . 7,8. — Stems many, much 
branched in a dichotomous manner, slender, green, subpubescent, 
straggling. Leaves linear-subulate, keeled, opposite and combined at 
the base by a membranous fringed margin. Flowers green, inconspi- 
cuous, in axillary leafy clusters. Perianth urceolate, ribbed, with 5 
ovato-lanceolate teeth, spreading when in flower, almost erect in fruit. 
We have seen foreign specimens (from Hamburgh) precisely inter- 
mediate between this and the next. 
2. S. perennis L. (perennial K.) ■, calyx of the fruit with 
obtuse close segments edged with a broad white membrane, 
stems procumbent, root perennial. E. B. t. 352. 
Open dry sandy fields, in Norfolk and Suffolk. 6 — 8. — 
Stems simple or irregularly branched, glaucous. The broad white 
membrane gives the flowers a variegated appearance. 
