PLUMBAGINE^— THRIFT TRIBE 79 



inches high, and, like the leaves, smooth and of pale green hue. The foliage 

 is thick and succulent, and the small white flowers, which may be seen from 

 July to September, are much crowded while young, but gradually become 

 more distant from each other. The plant is in some country-places considered 

 a certain cure for any malady aftecting swine. It is believed to have been 

 used in the mj^stic ceremonies of the Druids. 



Our little Brookweed, like our common meadow-grass, is a cosmopolite, 

 and like the shepherd's purse seems to follow man wherever he sets his foot. 

 Sir Joseph Hooker, who observed the two latter herbs at East Nepal, looked 

 at them there with some emotion. Plants like these, he says, give rise to 

 trains of reflection in the mind of the traveller v/ho is a naturalist, and " the 

 farther he may be from home and friends, the more wild and desolate the 

 country he is exploring, the greater the difficulties and dangers under which 

 he encounters these subjects of his earliest studies in science, so much keener 

 is the delight with which he recognises them, and the more lasting the 

 impression which they leave. At this moment these common weeds more 

 vividly recall to me that wild scene, than does all my journal, and reminds 

 me how I went on my way, taxing my memory for all I ever knew of the 

 geographical distribution of the shepherd's purse, and musing on the proba- 

 bility of the plant having found its way thither over all Central Asia, and 

 the ages that may have been occupied in its march." 



The French call our Brookweed Samole ; the Germans, Samoskraut ; the 

 Dutch, Strandpungen, and the Danes, Strandsamd. The word Samolus is by 

 some writers derived from two Celtic words, san, salutary, and mos, pig ; and 

 Pliny refers to its ancient use as a medicine for swine. The plant received 

 its specific name in memory of Dourez Valerand, a botanist of the sixteenth 

 century, mentioned by Bauhin. And some authors consider that the genus 

 was named from Samos, the birthplace of Valerand. 



Order LXVI. PLUMBAGINEiE— THRIFT TRIBE. 



Calyx tubular, plaited, chaffy, not falling off", often coloured ; corolla 

 5-cleft nearly to the base ; stamens 5, opposite the petals ; ovaiy of 5 carpels,' 

 1-celled ; styles 5 ; fruit 1-seeded. This order consists of herbaceous or 

 somewhat shrubby plants, with undivided fleshy leaves, and flowers often 

 forming heads or spikes. They inhabit the sea-shores of most temperate 

 regions, some being found also on mountains. They vary in properties, 

 some being very acrid, others useful as tonic medicines. 



1. Thrift (Armeria). — Calyx funnel-shaped, plaited, dry, membranaceous; 

 petals united at the base, bearing the stamens ; styles distinct, hairy; stigmas 

 glandular ; flowers in heads. Name from Flos Armeria, which was an old 

 monkish name for one of the sweet-william pinks. 



2. Sea Lavender {StdHce).—Ca\yx funnel-shaped, plaited, dry, mem- 

 branaceous ; petals united at the base, bearing the stamens ; styles distinct, 

 smooth ; stigmas glandular ; flowers in one-sided panicles. Name from the 

 Greek statizo, to stop, from some supposed medicinal virtues. 



