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Paronychia (plant)
Encyclopedia
Paronychia is a genus of plants in the pink family
with over 110 species worldwide, mostly from warm-temperate North America, Eurasia, South America and Africa. They are herb
s that are annual
or biennial
or perennial
in life span. Some species have a woody base. For the most part they have small, white to yellow-white colored flowers that are often hidden with in the paired bracts.
The genus Siphonychia has been incorporated into Paronychia by botanists.
The common names for some of the species include chickweed, nailwort, and Whitlow-wort. The genus gets its name from the disease of the fingernails
which it was once thought to cure.
Selected species:
Caryophyllaceae
The Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae and Polygonaceae...
with over 110 species worldwide, mostly from warm-temperate North America, Eurasia, South America and Africa. They are herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
s that are annual
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
or biennial
Biennial plant
A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months. Usually the stem remains very short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming...
or perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
in life span. Some species have a woody base. For the most part they have small, white to yellow-white colored flowers that are often hidden with in the paired bracts.
The genus Siphonychia has been incorporated into Paronychia by botanists.
The common names for some of the species include chickweed, nailwort, and Whitlow-wort. The genus gets its name from the disease of the fingernails
Paronychia
The nail disease paronychia , commonly misidentified as a synonym for whitlow or felon, is an often-tender bacterial or fungal hand infection or foot infection where the nail and skin meet at the side or the base of a finger or toenail...
which it was once thought to cure.
Selected species:
- Paronychia ahartiiParonychia ahartiiParonychia ahartii is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common name Ahart's nailwort. It is endemic to California, where it is known from three counties at the northern edge of the Sacramento Valley where it rises into the southern slopes of the Cascade Range. It is a...
- Ahart's nailwort - Paronychia argyrocoma - Silvery nailwort
- Paronychia canadensis - Smooth-forked nailwort
- Paronychia chartaceaParonychia chartaceaParonychia chartacea is a rare species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names papery Whitlow-wort and paper nailwort. It is endemic to Florida in the United States. There are two subspecies of the plant; ssp. chartacea occurs in Central Florida, especially the Lake Wales...
- Paper nailwort - Paronychia fastigiata - Hairy-forked nailwort
- Paronychia jamesii - James' nailwort
- Paronychia sessiliflora - Creeping nailwort
- Paronychia virginica - Virginia nailwort