200 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



Atriplex hastata.— F^^. 56 shows the form of the 

 leaves^ with irregular margin and barbs, also the panicled 

 spikes, leafy below. 



Marsh Samphire {Salicornia herbacea). 



Known as Glasswort on account of the use to 

 which the barilla or soda, obtained from the ash by 

 burning the plant, was formerly put, Samphire is 

 perhaps best known on account of its being fre- 

 quently employed as a pickle. An umbelliferous 

 plant which grows on rocks Crithmum maritimum is 

 also collected and utilised in the same way. The 

 name Salicornia refers to the form of the stem which 

 is horn-hke (Latin cormi, horn). From the allied 

 species Salicornia radicans, which is woody, this 

 species is distinguished by being herbaceous (hence 

 herbacea). Dr. C. E. Moss has recently distinguished 

 nine fresh species as British which were formerly 

 included in one or other of the above species, or 

 previously unobserved. The species are indeed 

 polymorphic and worthy of extended observations 

 as regards their variation and general life-history. 



This species is found in all parts of the British 

 Isles, as far north as the Shetlands and Orkneys, 

 and in Ireland (the other species being absent from 

 the latter), and the Channel Islands. 



Salt-marshes or muddy seashores are pre-eminently 

 the habitat of the Marsh Samphires. They are espe- 

 cially abundant in the muddy creeks about Blakeney 

 Point, near Cley, in Norfolk. This species occurs in 



