View source for Scleranthus

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Scleranthus
|accepted_authority=Linnaeus
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=Sp. Pl.
|place=1: 406. 1753 (as Schleranthus)
}}, {{Treatment/Publication
|title=Gen. Pl. ed.
|place=5, 190. 1754
|year=1754
}}
|common_names=Knawel;scléranthe
|basionyms=
|synonyms=
|hierarchy=Caryophyllaceae;Caryophyllaceae subfam. Alsinoideae;Scleranthus
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Caryophyllaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>subfamily</small>[[Caryophyllaceae subfam. Alsinoideae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Scleranthus]]</div></div>
|etymology=Greek skleros, hard, and anthos, flower, alluding to the indurate hypanthium
|volume=Volume 5
|mention_page=page 4, 6, 50
|treatment_page=page 149
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Herbs,</b> annual, biennial, or perennial. <b>Taproots</b> slender. <b>Stems</b> erect to prostrate, branched, terete. <b>Leaves</b> connate proximally, sessile; blade 1-veined, subulate to linear, not succulent, apex acute or obtuse. <b>Inflorescences</b> terminal or axillary, lax to dense cymes; bracts paired, foliaceous. <b>Flowers</b> sessile to subsessile; perianth and androecium perigynous; hypanthium urceolate, abruptly expanded distally; sepals 5, distinct, greenish, lanceolate to awl-shaped, 1.5–4 mm, herbaceous, margins whitish, scarious, apex acute to blunt or obtuse; petals absent; nectariferous disc at base of stamens; stamens 2–10, arising from hypanthium rim; filaments distinct; staminodes absent or 5–8, arising from hypanthium rim, filiform; styles 2, capitate, 0.8–1 mm, glabrous proximally; stigmas 2, terminal, minutely papillate (50×). <b>Utricles</b> ovoid, enclosed in persistent, indurate, shallowly or strongly furrowed, sepal-crowned hypanthium and falling with it, the whole constituting the indehiscent “fruit”; carpophore present. <b>Seeds</b> 1, yellowish, globose, not compressed, smooth, marginal wing absent, appendage absent. <b>x</b> = 11 [12].</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|distribution=temperate Europe (including Mediterranean region);Asia;Africa;Australia;widely naturalized elsewhere.
|introduced=true
|discussion=<p>Species ca. 10 (2 in the flora).</p><!--
--><p>In spite of their small size, most <i>Scleranthus</i> flowers secrete nectar and are visited by insects, including small flies and ants. Pollination in species within the flora area varies from chiefly protandrous outcrossing (<i>S. perennis</i>) to chiefly autogamous (<i>S. annuus</i>). L. Svensson (1988) reported that these two species hybridize regularly in Europe, producing flowers with ten reduced, sterile stamens.</p><!--
--><p>The common name “knawel” apparently refers to the glomerules of flowers (German Knäuel).</p>
|tables=
|references={{Treatment/Reference
|id=smissen2002a
|text=Smissen, R. D. and P. J. Garnock-Jones. 2002. Relationships, classification and evolution of Scleranthus (Caryophyllaceae) as inferred from analysis of morphological characters. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 140: 15–29.
}}
}}<!--

--><div class="treatment-key">
==Key==
<div class="treatment-key-group">
  
{| class="wikitable fna-keytable"
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Sepals with acute apices, spreading to erect in fruit, not overlapping, margins 0.1 mm or less wide; flowers usually equaling or shorter than bracts
|[[Scleranthus annuus|Scleranthus annuus]]
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Sepals with blunt or rounded apices, usually bending together in fruit, overlapping, margins 0.3-0.5 mm wide; flowers usually longer than bracts
|[[Scleranthus perennis|Scleranthus perennis]]
|}
</div></div><!--

-->{{#Taxon:
name=Scleranthus
|author=John W. Thieret;Richard K. Rabeler
|authority=Linnaeus
|rank=genus
|parent rank=subfamily
|synonyms=
|basionyms=
|family=Caryophyllaceae
|illustrator=Barbara Alongi
|illustration copyright=Flora of North America Association
|distribution=temperate Europe (including Mediterranean region);Asia;Africa;Australia;widely naturalized elsewhere.
|introduced=true
|reference=smissen2002a
|publication title=Sp. Pl.;Gen. Pl. ed.
|publication year=;1754
|special status=
|source xml=https://bibilujan@bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation.git/src/bb6b7e3a7de7d3b7888a1ad48c7fd8f5c722d8d6/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V5/V5_306.xml
|subfamily=Caryophyllaceae subfam. Alsinoideae
|genus=Scleranthus
}}<!--

-->[[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Caryophyllaceae subfam. Alsinoideae]]