Paronychia
(old Greek name used by Dioscorides, and derived from paronychia, a whitlow, for which it was thought to be a cure). Nailwort; Whitlow Grass. ORD. Illecebraceae. A genus of about forty species of small, annual or perennial, mostly hardy herbs, often caespitose, natives of the Mediterranean region, North Africa, Arabia, America, and Angola. Flowers small, in cymose heads or fascicles, often hidden by the large, white, scarious bracts; perianth five-parted. Leaves opposite, oblong-lanceolate or subulate, flat, or very rarely with recurved margins, entire; stipules usually large, scarious, shining. The Arabe, or Algerian Tea (Paronychia argentea, Lam., and P. nivea, DC.), is used in catarrh, phthisis, and to promote digestion. Scarcely any of the species are worth growing, except, perhaps, the following. They thrive in a light, sandy soil. Propagated by seeds; the perennials also by divisions. P. argentea (silvery). fl. whitish, axillary and terminal, crowded; bracts white and shining, acuminate. l. ovate, slightly glabrous, sub-acute; stipules broader, but shorter, than the leaves. South Europe, 1869. A free-growing and very dwarf plant, forming neat, compact patches 1ft. or more in diameter. The large, silvery stipules, and the numerous, scarious bracts of the same colour, have a good effect.
P. serpyllifolia (Thyme-leaved). fl. in dense heads at the tips of the shoots, surrounded and completely hidden by silvery, scarious bracts. Summer. l. sub-orbicular or obovate, ciliate. Stems prostrate. South Europe. This makes a pretty covering for beds, or amongst taller-growing plants, and is much used in carpet-bedding.