PENTANDRIA— DIGYNIA. Salsola, 17 



lower than the receptacle of the flower, orbicular, de- 

 pressed. Styles 2, sometimes 3, very short. Stigmas simple, 

 acute. Seed solitary, naked, horizontal, curved, imbedded 

 in the fleshy base of the calyx, the segments closing over 

 it. 

 Root fleshy. Herb smooth, rather succulent, branched, 

 spreading. Ft. aggregate ; their segments, as well as the 

 stam, and styles, liable to be much multiplied by culture. 



1. J^. 77iarith?ia, Sea Beet. 



Stems procumbent. Flowers in pairs. Segments of the 

 calyx entire at the keel. 



B. maritima. Linn. Sp. PL322. Willd. u. 1. 1309. Fl. Br. 279. 



Engl. Bot. y.4. t. 285. FL Grcec. 2;.3.49. t. 254. Hook. Scot. 84. 



Fl.Dan. t.\b7\. 

 B. syh'estris maritima. Bali Sijn. 157. 

 B. sylvestris spontanea marina. Lob. Obs. 125. 

 Sea Beet. Pet. FL Brit. t.S.f. 9. 



On the sea shore, in a muddy soil. 



Perennial. August. 



Boot thick and fleshy, black externally, white within. Stems pros- 

 trate, angular and furrowed, alternately branched, leafy, from 1 

 to 2 feet long-, often reddish. Leaves deep green, flaccid, slightly 

 succulent, stalked, ovate, veiny, wavy at the edges ; radical ones 

 much the largest, 3 or 4 inches long j those of the stem verti- 

 cal, in consequence of its position. Fl. green, usually in pairs, 

 rarely solitary, sessile, in the bosoms of the leaves, of which the 

 uppermost are diminished almost to bractaas. Keel of the calyx 

 entire, by which it difters, according to Linnaeus, from B. vul- 

 garis. 



131. SALSOLA. Saltwort. 



Linn. Gen. 122. Juss. 85. FL Br. 2/9. Lam. t.\S\. Gcertn. t. 75. 

 Kali. Tourn. t. 128. 



Nat. Ord. see ii. 129. 



Cal. inferior, of 1 leaf, in .5 deep, rounded, permanent seg- 

 ments. Cor. none. Filam. awl-shaped, opposite to the 

 segments of the calyx, and about as long. Anfli. roundisli, 

 2-lol)ed. Ger?nen globose. Styles 2 or 3, combined at 

 the base. Stigmas recurved. Caps, imbedded in the 

 fleshy base of the calyx, of 1 cell, horny, not bursting. 

 Seed solitary, turbinate, large, with a spiral, horizontal, 

 very large embryo. 



