8 
SCLERANTHUS 
Subfamily i. SCLERA NFHOIDEA E 
Scleranthoideae Ascherson und Graebner FI. Nordost. Flachl. 294 et 317 (1898); Sclerantheae DC Prodr. 
377 (1828); Pax in Engler und Prantl Pjlanzenfam. iii, pt. 1 b, 69 et 92 (1889); Scleranthaceae Lindley Nat. 
Syst. ed. 2, 213 (1836). 
For characters, see page 7. Only British genus : — Scleranthus. 
Genus 1. Scleranthus 
Scleranthus L. [Gen. PI. 130 (1737);] Sp. PI. 406 (1753) et Gen. PI. ed. 5, 190 (1754); Pax in Engler 
und Prantl Pfianzenfant. iii, pt. 1 b, 92 (1889); [Knawel Dillenius App. Cat. Giss. 94 (1719)]. 
Perennial or annual herbs. Leaves opposite, more or less connate, exstipulate, subulate, often 
serratulate, pungent. Peduncles hairy on one side. Flowers monochlamydeous, ebracteate. Sepals 4 — 5, 
united, tubular, often contracted at the top of the tube, segments green with a white margin, 
strongly persistent. Staminodes or petals absent. Stamens 1 — 10, inserted at the mouth of the 
perianth-tube ; when 5, antisepalous. Stigmas 2, capitate. Ovary unilocular, uniovulate. Fruit in- 
dehiscent, adherent to the hardened persistent perianth. Seed pendulous from a filiform basal funicle, 
lenticular ; embryo annular. 
About 10 species; Europe; Africa; western Asia; Australia, New Zealand. 
British species of Scleranthus 
1. S. perennis (see below). Perennial. Leaves glaucous. Perianth-segments pubescent, obtuse, 
with a broad white margin. 
2. S. annuus (page 9). Annual. Leaves subglaucous. Perianth-segments glabrous, acute, with 
a narrow whitish margin. 
1 . SCLERANTHUS PERENNIS. Plate 6 
Knawel incanum flore majore perenne Ray Syn. ed. 3, 160, t. 5, fig. 1 (1724). 
Scleranthus perennis L. Sp. PI. 406 (1753)!; Smith Eng. Bot. no. 352 (1796); FI. Brit. 458 (1800)! ; 
Eng. FI. ii, 283 (1824); Syme Eng. Bot. vii, 182 (1867); Rouy FI. France xii, 13 (1910). 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 352; Syme Eng. Bot. vii, t. 1176. 
Camb. Brit. Ft. iii. Plate 6 . (a) A small plant. ( b , c ) Flowers (enlarged), (d) Calyx enclosing ripening 
fruit. Norfolk (A. M. S.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot 1197; Fries, xii, 62; Reichenbach, 284; Thielens et Devos, i, 100; Wirtgen, vii, 293 a; 
Herb. FI. Ingric. viii, 241. 
Perennial. Shoot glaucous, prostrate or decumbent. Leaves more acuminate and more strongly 
falcate than in S. annuus. Flowers not on the 
basal branches, about 5mm. in diameter; June to 
October. Perianth pubescent, segments obtuse, 
with a conspicuous white margin which is much 
broader than in S. annuus , converging after 
flowering, obtuse. Stamens 10. 
Rare ; on grassland on dry, calcareous, sandy 
or gravelly or rocky soils ; Suffolk and Norfolk ; 
Wales — Radnorshire. 
Central and southern Scandinavia, Denmark, 
Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, central Europe, Russia, southern Europe; temperate Asia. 
Map 3. Distribution of S. perennis in England and Wales 
