SEA-COAST 



33 



tata, L,, of which it lias been regarded as a variety, 

 only ill havinjj a prostrate stem, more fleshy 

 loaves, and sepals deeply cut, with slender teeth. 

 It is O-iS in. hiijli. 



Sea Purslane (Alriplfx porlulacoidcs, L.). — The 

 habitat of this plant is muddy maritime clifTs and 

 marshes, muddy s.ilt - marshes. The habit is 

 shrubby. The plant is mealy, covered with small, 

 persistent, greyish-white scales. The rootstock 

 is woody and branched. The stem is woody below, 

 prostrate, wavy, the branches erect. The leaves 

 are silvery white, usually opposite, with a rounded 

 tip, spoon-shaped to lance-shaped, entire, narrow 

 below, the upper narrower, linear. The flowers 

 are in terminal, interrupted spikes or panicles, 

 leafy below. The fruiting' perianth is cupular, 

 st;ilkless, wedge-shaped, inversely triangular to 

 rounded below, with 3 unequal or equal lobes 

 above, rough on the back, flattened at the border. 

 The seed is rough, chestnut colour. The plant is 

 \-2 ft. high, flowering from August to October, 

 and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Alripicx pedunculata, L. — The habitat of this 

 plant is muddy shores, muddy maritime marshes, 

 and sail-marshes. The habit is herbaceous. The 

 plant is mealy. The stem is wavy, branched or 

 simple, slender, round. The leaves are narrowly 

 inversely *^%^ ~ shaped, oblong, n.'irrow below, 

 entire, with a rounded tip, shortly - stalked, the 

 upper narrower. The flowers are in terminal 

 spikes, reduced to axillary clusters, more or less 

 stalkless, one or two fruiting in each cluster, when 

 the stalk lengthens and spreads. The fruiting 

 inrianlhs are long-stalked, bell-shaped, wedge- 

 ^ll.1pcd,^vith 2 bent-back lobes, with 2 intermediate 

 teeth, 2 lateral lobes. The plant is 3-8 in. high, 

 flowering from August to October, and is a herba- 

 ceous annual. 



Glasswort iSalicnrnia eitropcea^ L. = 5. procum- 

 hf'is, Sm. , aeix. , S. /u-rhacea, L.). — The habitat of the 

 [jlant is mu<ldy seashores, salt-miirshes, maritime 

 and inland, it being abundant and often social. 

 The habit is ascending to erect. The root is 

 slender. The stems are herbaceous, leafless, the 

 joints succulent, compressed, thickened upwards, 

 notched, all the branches flowering, spindle- 

 shaped. The plant is bright green. The inter- 

 nodes are contracted above .and below, the lower 

 woody, slender, the upper fleshy. The flowering 

 internodes are in short spikes. The flowering 

 spikes are tapering, blunt, cylindrical, each spike 

 has S-16 flowering segments. The flowers are 

 nearly equal in size, 3, the centre one two-thirds 

 the way up the segment, with i stamen as a rule, 

 or with a secondary rudimentary one, and if there 

 are two they ripen successively. The styles pro- 

 ject. The fruiting perianth is narrowly winged at 

 the top. The seed is egg-shaped or oblong, green, 

 with curled hairs. The plant is 6-18 in. high, 

 flowering in August and September, and is a herb- 

 .'treous annual. 



Salicornia eitroptea, L. {Jorma stricta-, Moss. = 



.S. stricta, Dum.). — The habitat of this plant is 



irect. The stem is erect, much-branched, vigorous, 



the branches in clusters, the terminal spikes usu- 



VOL. VI. 



ally very long. The spikes are cylindrical, 2-3 in. 

 long. The plant is always green in colour. The 

 plant is a herbaceous annual. 



Salicornia ramosissima. Woods. — This plant is 

 polymorphic in colour, size, and branching. The 

 colour is apple-green or grass-green to dingy red 

 and crimson. It is usually much-branched (hence 

 raiiwsissiiiia), even bushy, but less branched and 

 branchless forms occur. It is 30 mm. in height. 

 The vegetative .segments are about 10 mm., rarely 

 20 mm. long. The terminal flowering spikes are 

 not so long as in 5. europara, not more than 5-10 

 mm. long, .icutc, tapering, with 4-6 flowering seg- 

 ments. The spikes are rather lance-shaped. The 

 central flower is about twice as large as the lateral 

 ones, reaching two-thirds the way up the segment. 

 It has two stamens. The plant is a herbaceous 

 annual. 



Salicornia pusilla. Woods. — The habitat of this 

 plant is sall-marslies. The plant is very small 

 (hence pusillu). The colour is grey-green, and 

 the plant does not exceed 12 cm. in height.- It is 

 branched when full-grown, with curved, graceful 

 branches, but it is sometimes less so, as in the 

 type specimens. The vegetative segments arc 

 6-10 mm. long. The terminal flowering spikes 

 are short (5-10 mm.), with few flowers (2-4), which 

 are globular. The lateral flowers are only one- 

 third as large as the central one, w-hich reaches 

 two-thirds up the segment. The seed has spirally- 

 coiled hairs, which differ from those of other annual 

 species in not being crozier-shaped. The plant is 

 2-6 in. high, and is a herbaceous annual. 



Salicornia intermedia. Woods. — The habitat of 

 this plant is salt-marshes. The plant, which may 

 be regarded as the type, differs from 5. pusilla 

 only in having much longer and redder spikes. 

 The plant is a herbaceous annual. 



Salicornia appressa, Dum. — This plant is dingy- 

 red to crimson in colour. It is a prostrate plant, 

 triangular in outline, fan -shaped, the branches 

 ascending at the tip. The stems are loose, pros- 

 trate, then ascending, appressed to the mud (hence 

 appressa). The main stem is 15 cm. or more long. 

 The vegetative segments are 7-9 mm. long. The 

 terminal flowering-spikes arc short (10-22 mm.), 

 tapering, and acute. The central flower is larger 

 than the lateral ones, and reaches nearly to the 

 top of the segment. The plant is a herbaceous 

 annual. The height of the plant is 6-12 in. 



Salicornia gracillinia. Moss. — This plant is green 

 or red in colour. The habit is erect, rigid, more 

 or less racemose. The stem is 12 cm. long. The 

 branches are ascending, somewhat unequal, para- 

 llel. The non-flowering segments are short (5-8 

 mm.), the spikes arc larger and longer than in S. 

 pusilla (and the whole plant less fleshy), short, 

 6-12 mm., with 2-4 segments. There are 2 lateral 

 flowers, usually smaller by half than the central 

 flower, which extends half-way up the segment. 

 The spikes contain cellules, which are spiral, 

 spicular. The plant is a herbaceous annual. 



Salicornia disarticiilata. Moss. — The habitat of 

 this plant is the drier parts of salt marshes, where 

 the plant grows among turf formed by Glyceria 



80 



