Herniaria L.

16. Herniaria L. View in CoL 1

Like Paronychia , but flowers sometimes 4-merous; bracts inconspicuous; stigma notched or bifid, subsessiie or rarely on a distinct style.

Literature: F. N. Williams, Bull. Herb. Boiss. ser. 2, 4: 556-70 (1896). F. Hermann, Feddes Repert. 42: 203-24 (1937).

Flowers 4-merous, with 2 outer sepals ± enclosing 2 smaller inner; upper stipules and bracts with conspicuous purplishblack coloration

2 Leaves ±flat, elliptical, not in dense clusters; flower-clusters distributed along most upper branches 14. fontanesii 2 Leaves ovoid to subglobose, in dense clusters; flower-clusters terminal or subterminal 15. fruticosa Flowers 4- to 5-merous, sepals ±equal; stipules and bracts usually without purplish-black coloration

? Annual, without a woody stock

4 Flowers 5-merous

5 Leaves and sepals glabrous or ciliate 5. glabra 5 Leaves and sepals conspicuously hairy 11. hirsuta 4 Flowers 4-merous

6 Perigynous zone with patent, hooked hairs 12. polygama 6 Perigynous zone without patent, hooked hairs

13. nigrimontium 3 Perennial, with a ± woody stock

7 Sepals and leaves glabrous or ciliate

8 Sepals c. 0-5 mm; leaves usually entirely glabrous; flowerclusters usually contiguous on short lateral branches 5. glabra 8 Sepals 0-7-1 mm; at least the younger leaves ciliate; flowerclusters usually not contiguous on short lateral branches

9 Plant usually compact; hairs on leaf-margins strongly curved forwards, appressed to leaf-margin (mountains of Greece and Kriti) 4. parnassica 9 Plant not compact; hairs on leaf-margins not appressed

6. ciliolata 7 Sepals densely hairy; leaves densely hairy or conspicuously ciliate

10 Plant compact, internodes seldom more than 5 mm;

flower-clusters terminal or subterminal

11 Leaves more than 2-5 x 1-2 mm, at least the older leaves glabrous on the surface 1. alpina 11 Leaves up to 2-5 x 1-2 mm, densely covered with appressed hairs 2. boissieri 10 Plant not compact, most internodes more than 5 mm, or if not then flower-clusters distributed along most of the younger branches

12 Leaves strongly ciliate, surface ± glabrous except for a line of hairs on the prominent midrib 3. latifolia 12 Leaves with hairs evenly distributed over the surface

13 Mature leaves mostly more than 6 mm, at least 3 times as long as wide; sepals with hairs about equalling the width of the sepals 10. incana 13 Leaves rarely more than 6 mm, less than three times as long as wide; sepals with hairs much shorter than the width of the sepals

14 Flower-clusters lax, up to 6-flowered, mostly terminal or subterminal on the shorter branches; pubescence greyish-white 9. baetica 14 Flower-clusters dense, more than 6-flowered, leafopposed or distributed along the shorter branches;

pubescence usually yellowish

15 Older stems suffruticose, the younger hairy on one side only (maritime sands) 7. maritima 15 Stems usually not suffruticose, the younger hairy all round 8. scabrida