54 



STATICE monopetala. 



Monopetalous Sea Lavender 



PENTANDRIA PENTAGYNIA. 

 Nat. ord. Plumbaginace^e. 

 ST A TICE. Botanical Register, 17. fol. 1450. 



S. monopetala ; albo-lepidota, caule fruticoso folioso, foliis lineari-spathulatis 

 basi vaginantibus, spicis paniculatis squamatis, floribus solitariis distan- 

 tibus, corolla incurva hypocrateriformi, calyce herbaceo vix-exserto vel 

 aucto. 



S. monopetala. Linn. sp. pi. 1. 296. Besf.fi. all. 1.277* Forsk. Fl. 

 cegypt. arab. 59. no. 97. 



There is something so peculiar in the habit of this plant, 

 that, notwithstanding the assertion of Linnaeus that " nullus 

 sanus" would think of separating it from the genus Statice, 

 we feel inclined to do so. In its corolla with a very long 

 curved tube, and the calyx, which scarcely enlarges after 

 flowering, we have clear marks of distinction from the true 

 Sea Lavenders. Nevertheless it is perhaps as well to leave it 

 in Statice till the numerous other shrubby species shall have 

 been carefully examined. 



This species is found wild in the Southern parts of Eu- 

 rope, and in the North of Africa. Desfontaines gathered it 

 in Algiers, Brotero mentions it as Portuguese, Tenore 

 describes it as inhabiting the swamps of Calabria, and 

 Forskahl found it common at Alexandria in the deserts about 

 the Catacombs, where he says it is called Scetj or Zcejta. 



The whole of the green parts are covered with white disks, 

 distant from each other about twice their own diameter, 

 and apparently composed of calcareous matter. Does not 

 this render it probable that some of the salts of lime, the 

 muriate for instance, would prove grateful food for it. The 

 experiment is worth trying, for if the plant has so much more 



