HERNIARIA 
1 1 
Babington, as will be seen from the citation given above, referred this variety to H. glabra which indeed it approaches 
in its narrower leaves and its more crowded flowers. However, it is perennial ; and the leaves are more or less ciliate at 
least when young. It is certainly intermediate between H. ciliata var. babingtoni and H. glabra. From H. ciliata var. babingtoni 
it is distinguished “at a glance” by the “dense aggregation of its clusters of flowers which are so thickly placed upon the 
short lateral branches.” In H. ciliata var. babingtoni , “the clusters are arranged, either singly or two or three together, in 
the axil of each of the leaves which are sufficiently distant from each other to separate entirely the different bunches of 
clusters” (Babington Prim. FI. Sam. 39 (1839)). Although Syme does not definitely mention Babington’s var. subciliata, it 
is evident from his remarks {op. cit. p. 180) that he includes the plant in his H. ciliata. Mr Pugsley {loc. cit.) reduced it 
to a variety of H. ciliata in 1914; and we believe that this view is correct. Babington’s Latin diagnosis (“foliis plus 
minusve ciliatis ”) is extremely meagre ; and this has led some botanists to ignore the plant. The plant, however, is 
sufficiently described by him (see above), and is obviously distinct from H. glabra. There are several specimens by Babington 
in Herb. Univ. Cantab. ; and British botanists know quite well the plant which Babington intended. There is therefore 
no option but to retain the varietal name subciliata when it is transferred from H. glabra to H. ciliata. 
Channel Isles and Cornwall, where it is often confused with H. glabra var. vera (see below). 
Denmark, France (Foret de Fontainebleau !), southern Germany, Spain, and perhaps elsewhere. 
Rare and local; on sand dunes in the Channel Isles; on gravelly soil, on wall-tops, and 
in hedge-banks at the Lizard, in Cornwall. 
Denmark, Germany, Holland, France, recorded for central Europe, Spain, Portugal. 
2. HERNIARIA GLABRA. Plates 9, 10 
Herniaria Gerard Herball 434 (1597); Ray Syn. ed. 3, 160 (1724), parti m ; Millegrana major seu herniaria 
vulgaris Parkinson Theatr. Bot. 446 (1640); H. hirsuta Dillenius in Ray Syn. ed. 3, 161 (1724) [=var. hirsuta\. 
Herniaria glabra L. Sp. PI. 218 (1753)!, inch H. hirsuta\\ Smith FI. Brit. 271 (1800) incl. H. hirsuta 
p. 272 ; Syme Eng. Bot. vii, 178 (1867) inch H. hirsuta p. 183. 
Annual. Branches prostrate or decumbent, herbaceous, more or less pubescent, up to about 
12 cm. long. Stipules smaller and more inconspicuous than in H. ciliata. Laminae narrowly 
elliptical, attenuate below, more acute than in H. ciliata. Flowers very small, numerous and 
crowded; mid-July to September. Sepals subacute to obtuse. Petals or staminodes usually 5 or 4, 
sometimes reduced in number or even absent. Anthers yellow. Stigmas slightly divergent. Seed 
ovate, minute, black. 
(a) *f*H. glabra var. hirsuta O. Kuntze in Act. Hort. Petrop. x, 230(1887); H. hirsuta L. l.c. ; Miller Gard. 
Diet. ed. 8, no. 2 (1768); Smith l.c. ; Babington in Trans. Linn. Soc. xvii, 451 (1837); Townsend FI. Hampshire 
ed. 2, 73 (1904) ; Rouy FI. France xii, 9 (1900) ; in sensu stricto. 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 1379, as H. hirsuta. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 9. (a) Portion of flowering shoot, (b) Leaves (enlarged), (c) Portion of stem 
(enlarged), (d) Closed flowers (enlarged). ( e ) Flower (enlarged). Cambridge Botanic Garden (R. I. L.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 554, 554 bis, as H. hirsuta ; Dickson, 13, as H. glabra ; Schultz {FI. Gall, et Germ.), 
1450; Thielens et Devos, ii, 130, as H. hirsuta ; Wirtgen, viii, 359, as H. hirsuta. 
Shoot densely covered with short, straight, spreading hairs. Stipules and jlowers rather 
larger than in var. vera. Sepals narrower, densely hairy. Fruits rather larger. 
Very rare, and perhaps not indigenous; Isle of Wight (C. E. Salmon in Jorcrn. Bot. 1 , 378 (1912)), 
Hampshire (probably extinct), Middlesex (probably extinct), Warwickshire (adventitious). 
Recorded as follows : — Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, central Europe, Russia, southern Europe ; 
Africa ; Asia. 
{, h ) H. glabra var. vera Babington FI. Sam. 39 (1839); H. glabra L. l.c. ; Miller op. cit. no. 1; Smith 
Eng. Bot. no. 206 (1794); FI. Brit. l.c. ; Babington in Trans. Linn. Soc. xvii, 452 (1837)!; Syme l.c. ; Rouy FI. 
France xii, 8 (1910); in sensu stricto. 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 206, as H. glabra ; FI. Dan. t. 529, as H. glabra. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 10. {a) A small plant, {b) Leaves (enlarged). (<r) Portion of stem (enlarged). 
{d) Five different flowers (enlarged), {e) Ovary (enlarged). Norfolk (W. G. C.). 
Exsiccata: — Billot, 1877; v. Heurck, i, 37; Huter, 596 bis, as H. glabra var. scabrescens ; Thielens et 
Devos, i, 19; Herb. FI. Ingric. vi, 242; viii, 242 b, as H. glabra var. scabriuscida ; Smith herb, (partim), as 
H. glabra. 
Stem with very minute, decurved hairs. Leaves glabrous. Flowers smaller than in var. hirsuta. 
Sepals broader, glabrous or only with very minute hairs. Fruits smaller. , 
Rare; sandy soils, in waste places and arable land; Middlesex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdon- 
shire (introduced with seed and not permanent), Lincolnshire. 
Foreign distribution doubtful : recorded as for the species. 
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