70 RHAMNE^E. [Li/thrum. 



solitary ; leaves obovate. Br. FLl.p.l5l. E. Fl. v. ii. p. 187. 

 E. Bott. 1211. 



Watery places, not unfrequent. Plentiful on Howth, and about 

 Roundwood, &c. Fl. July, Aug. 0.— Plant prostrate, five to six 

 inches long, creeping, little branched. Leaves opposite, glabrous, 

 tapering at the base. 



2. Lythrum. Linn. Purple Loosestrife. 



Calyx inferior, tubular, with 12 teeth, alternately smaller. Pe- 

 tals six, inserted upon the calyx. Capsule oblong, 2-celled. — 

 Name \vdpov, blood, it is said from the red colour of the 

 flowers. Dodecandria. Digynia. 



1. L. Salicaria, Linn. Spiked purple Loosestrife. Leaves 

 opposite, lanceolate cordate at the base ; flowers in whorled 

 leafy spikes with twelve stamens. Br. Fl. 1. p. 217. E. Fl. v. 

 ii.p. 343 E.Bot.t.l06l. 



Sides of watery and marshy places, frequent. Fl. July. 2£. — Two 

 to three feet high, erect. Stems four sided. Spikes very long, of 

 beautiful purple flowers. Calyx striated. Petals oblong, cruciform. 

 Stamens within the tube of the calyx, six long and six short ones. 



2. L. hyssopifolium, Linn. Hyssop-leaved purple Loosestrife. 

 Leaves mostly alternate, linear-lanceolate, obtuse ; flowers axil- 

 lary, solitary ; stamens six. Br. Fl. 1. p. 217. E. Fl. v. ii. p. 

 344. E. Bot. t. 292. 



Moist and occasionally inundated places. Ballyraadder, near Ban- 

 now, County of Wexford ; James Tardy, Esq. Fl. Aug. ©.-- 

 Stems mostly recumbent, leafy, the central one upright, four to six 

 inches high. 



Ord. 23. RHAMNE^E. Br. Buckthorn Family. 



Calyx 4— 5-cleft, with a valvate estivation. Petals 4—5, 

 (rarely wanting,) alternate with the calycine lobes, often scale- 

 like, with a concave or cucullatelimb. Stamens 4 — 5, opposite 

 to the petals, consequently alternate with the calycine lobes ; 

 anthers 2- celled. Ovary sometimes wholly adnate with the 

 calyx, sometimes adherent only with the base or as far as the 

 middle, 2 — 4-celled ; cells with one ovule : style 1 : stigmas 

 2 — 4. Pericarp often indehiscent, a berry, drupe or samara, 

 rarely a capsule. Seeds erect, destitute of arillus. Albumen 

 none, or often fleshy. Embryo straight. Radicle inferior : co- 

 tyledons somewhat foliaceous. — Shrubs or small trees. Leaves 

 simple, alternate, rarely opposite, frequently stipukd. Flowers 

 small, often greenish. 



