ROCKROSE FAMILY 



CISTACE^E ROCKROSE FAMILY 



Hudsonia tomentosa, Nutt. 



Yellow Barren Heath, Heath, 



Poverty-grass, False Heather, 



May-July Poverty-plant, Beach Heather, 



Ground-cedar, Bear-grass, 



Woolly Hudsonia, Dog's Dinner. 

 Ground-moss, 



Hudsonia: for derivation see ericoides. 

 Tomentosa: Latin meaning stuffing for cushions. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil of the Commons, 

 and beach sand. 



THE PLANT: erect, densely tufted, four inches to eight 

 inches high, intricately branched and matted; stems "pale 

 with hoary pubescence." 



THE LEAVES: alternate; densely crowded and pressed 

 close to the stem; oval or oblong; less than one twelfth of an 

 inch long. 



THE FLOWERS: numerous; slightly smaller than those of 

 the ericoides, sessile or nearly so, like those of the ericoides 

 falling early. 



THE FRUIT: a pod. 



Mr. Godfrey, in his "Island of Nantucket", says: 

 "When sheep were allowed to roam at large on our Com- 

 mons, one feeble specimen of the blossom of the Hudsonia 

 tomentosa could be found in perfection, where now, freed 

 from the sheep, the whole surface of the island is covered 

 with this heath-like plant in its season." In fact, the 

 Commons and sand dunes are yellow, when the Barren 

 Heath is in bloom, as the mountain sides of Scotland are 

 coloured by the gorse. The Nantucket people appreciate 

 that the plant may now be had for the taking and great 

 quantities are gathered and dried to be used for fuel. 



229 



