ILLECEBRACEAE 
7 
Order 4. DIANTHALES 
Dianthales Williams [Prov. and Tent. List. 6 (1895) excl. Portulacaceae, nomen;] Prodr. FI. Brit, i, p. xv 
(1911) excl. Porhdacaceae\ Caryophyllineae Spach Hist. Nat. VIg. Phandrog. v, 143 (1836); Engler Syll. ed. 2, 
1 14 (1898); Carter Gen. Brit. Plants 43 (1913). 
Leaves usually exstipulate, usually opposite and decussate. Flowers usually bracteate. Perianth 
usually heterochlamydeous. Calyx of 4 or 5 sepals. Corolla polypetalous, of 4 or 5 petals, rarely 
absent. Stamens 3 — 10, outer whorl usually antisepalous. Carpels 1 — 5. Fruit usually a capsule. 
Placentation basal or free-marginal (“free-central”). Endosperm present. 
See also Volume II, page 150. 
Families of Dianthales 
Family 1. Illecebraceae (see below). Leaves usually stipulate (exstipulate in Scleranthus ), 
opposite or alternate. Petals usually represented by subulate staminodes (absent in Scleranthus , 
ligulate and petaloid in Corrigiola). Stigmas 3 — 2. Fruit usually indehiscent ; when dehiscent, 
splitting transversely or irregularly. Seeds usually 1, rarely 2, to each fruit. Placentation basal. 
Family 2. Dianthaceae (or Caryophyllaceae ) (p. 13). Leaves usually exstipulate (stipulate in 
Polycarpon , Spergula , and Spergularia), opposite. Petals not subulate (absent rarely in certain 
species and varieties of Cerastium , Stellaria , Lychnis , etc.). Stigmas 5—2. Fruit dehiscent, 
splitting longitudinally. Seeds several in each fruit. Placentation free-marginal (or “ free-central ”). 
Family 1. ILLECEBRACEAE 
Illecebraceae Lindley Nat. Arr. ed. 2, 127 (1836) emend.; Bentham and Hooker Gen. PI. iii, 12 (1880); 
Robinson and Fernald in Gray’s New Man. ed. 7, 376 (1908); Rouy Ft. France xii, i (1910). 
Perennial or annual herbs, rarely shrubby. Leaves alternate or opposite, entire or serrulate, 
stipulate or exstipulate. Calyx small ; segments 4 — 5, joined or free, persistent. Staminodes or 
petals either absent (as in Scleranthus ), or setaceous (usually), or (as in Corrigiola ) white and 
ligulate ; borne, like the stamens, on the disc or (as in Scleranthus ) on the calyx. Ovules 1 — 4, 
usually 1. Stigmas 2 — 3. Placentation basal. Fruit indehiscent or rarely dehiscent, when dehiscent 
splitting transversely or irregularly, 1 -locular, usually 1 -seeded. Seed basal or suspended from a basal 
funicle. Embryo curved or nearly straight. 
Scleranthus is very distinct from the other genera, and probably ought to be taken out of the family or even the order. 
By some authorities, the family Illecebraceae is blended with the Dianthaceae (or Caryophyllaceae ), with the result that the 
latter well-defined family is shorn of its distinctive features. We deem it better to retain the Illecebraceae and the Diantha- 
ceae as two separate families ; and their relationship is sufficiently shown by placing them in the same order (or, according 
to some authorities, in the same suborder). 
It is debatable whether the Illecebraceae are reduced from the Dianthaceae or (as we prefer to believe) reduced 
from ancestors common to both families. We regard the primitive stock of the whole Centrospermae as having been 
characterised by monochlamydeous and sepaloid perianths, and the Illecebraceae as exhibiting the transition from these hypo- 
thetical ancestors to the plants with definitely heterochlamydeous perianths of the Dianthaceae. It is only in the genus 
Corrigiola , among the British members of the Illecebraceae , that the ordinary botanist would find a perianth which he would 
deem really heteroclamydeous. 
About 20 genera and no species; warm-temperate and dry regions. 
Subfamilies of I llecebraceae 
Subfamily 1. Scleranthoideae (p. 8). Leaves opposite, more or less connate, exstipulate. 
Calyx with 4 — 5 segments, tube campanulate, persistent. Petals or staminodes absent. Stamens 
inserted at the mouth of the calyx-tube. Stigmas 2. Ovary unilocular. Ovules 1 — 2 in each ovary, 
suspended from the end of a funicle arising basally. Fruit indehiscent with 1 — 2 seeds. Embryo 
curved round the endosperm. 
Subfamily 2. Illecebroideae (p. 9). Leaves usually opposite, with membranous stipules. 
Calyx more or less coherent at the base only ; segments 4 — 5, imbricate. Staminodes or petals 
usually 5, subulate or ligulate, alternating with the sepals and with the perfect stamens. Stamens 
inserted, like the staminodes, on a perigynous disc. Stigmas 5 — 2. Fruit dehiscent below or 
indehiscent, unilocular, 1 -seeded. Embryo more or less curved. 
