THE THKIFT FAMILY. 273 



Phacelia. Abroad they are in raany cases shrubby and arborescent. 

 Their affinities are with the Borage Family, in their frequently rough 

 leaves, and the incurved racemes of flowers seen in Phacelia ; with the 

 Phlox Family in general aspect ; and with the Primrose Family in 

 regard to the placenta. Though somewhat heterogeneous as a whole, 

 they are easily distinguished, however, from the Borage Family, by 

 their one-celled ovary ; from the Phlox Family, in the same way ; and 

 from the Primrose Family, by their stamens being alternate with the 

 petals, those of the Primulacea) being opposite to them. There are 

 not a hundred species altogether, and few are found out of America. 

 None appear to possess qualities of importance. 



LXXX.— THE THRIFT FAMILY. Plumhagindcece. 



Pretty herbaceous or undershrubby plants, very unlike one another 

 in foliage, inflorescence, and general figure, but at once distinguished 

 from all other families where the petals are united, by their plaited 

 calyx and solitary ovule, the latter suspended from the apex of a cord 

 arising from the base of a one-celled ovary, which is crowned with^t^e 

 styles, either quite distinct, or united below the middle. When more 

 than one style is present in a flower, we naturally anticipate more than 

 one cell to the ovary ; here, however, it is just the contrary. Stems 

 usually hard and stifi"; leaves simple, undivided, and entire, sometimes 

 clustered, sometimes alternate ; inflorescence either in panicles or 

 globular heads ; calyx tubular, plaited, persistent, sometimes coloured 

 and enlarged, and petal-like at the upper part ; corolla of five remark- 

 ably thin petals, which are either free or united, in which latter case 

 the tube is narrow and angular. Stamens five, opposite the petals ; 

 perigynous when they are free, hypogynous when combined. 



The greater portion of these plants are natives of the sea-coasts and 

 adjacent salt-marshes of the temperate parts of the world, especially 

 of the basin of the Mediterranean. The remainder grow in moun- 

 tainous places inland, the family, as a whole, reaching from Greenland 

 to Cape Horn. The properties are various, and in some cases medi- 

 cinal, and many species are highly prized by gardeners. About one 

 hundred and sixty are known, six or seven of them growing wild on 

 the coasts of Britain, where they are popularly called " sea-lavender " 

 and " sea-pink." The former are species of Stdtice ; the sea-pink is 



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