THRIFT TRIBE 81 



Queen Elizabeth's time it had the English name of Lady's Cushion, and 

 the French one of Gazun, d'Espagnc. 



A bitter and astringent principle exists in the Thrift, l)ut it is remarkable 

 that the plant secretes difi'erent substances on the different soils. When 

 growing near the sea it is found to yield iodine and salts of soda, while the 

 mountain plant loses the iodine and yields potash instead of soda. AVhen 

 wild the Thrift produces seed, but when removed to the garden it can be 

 propagated only by dividing the roots. It flowers from April to September, 

 and its leaves are all from the root. 



2. Plantain-leaved Thrift {A. planfaginea). — Leaves linear-lanceolate, 

 3 — 5-nerved ; awns of the calyx long ; perennial. This Thrift, which is 

 found in great abundance in Jersey, on the sandy districts of Quenvais, is 

 readily distinguished from the common species. It has much broader leaves, 

 and its calyx has long bristly teeth. The flowers, which expand in Jiuie and 

 July, are of pale purple colour. 



2. 8ea Lavender (Stdtice). 



1. Spreading Spiked Sea Lavender (S. Umdiimm). — Leaves oblong 

 and lanceolate, stalked, tipped with a spine, one ribbed ; stalk with a much 

 branched spreading corymb at the top ; branches curved outward ; spikes 

 short, densely flowered ; calyx segments entire, acute, with intermediate 

 teeth ; outer bract pointed, small ; perennial. The 



" Pale Sea Lavender, that lacks perfume," 



is, however, a very handsome flower. Though rare in Scotland, it is quite 

 common in England on muddy shores and salt marshes, from Jul}^ to 

 September. One may see it at a great distance, for its large level-topped 

 cluster of small blossoms is of bright though light lavender colour, and 

 stands on a leafless stalk one or two feet in height. Its cluster branches off 

 into several spreading somewhat flattened tufts, which stand on angular 

 stalks. The leaves are of bright green, sometimes a foot long, very strongly 

 nerved, and the sharp point turns backward. 



2. Remote-flowered Sea Lavender (S. bahusie'nsis). — Leaves oblong- 

 lanceolate, stalked, tipped with a spine, one ribbed, faintly nerved ; stalk 

 much branched from near the base, panicled ; branches ascending or curving 

 inwards ; spikes elongated, with rather distant flowers ; calyx segments 

 acute, with intermediate teeth ; pei'ennial. This species is very nearly allied 

 to the last, but its stalk always branches from near the base, and its clusters 

 are not level-topped. It flowers in June and July, and has pale lilac flowers. 

 It seems more generally distributed than the last species on the muddy 

 shores of this kingdom. Some botanists class it as a sub-species of S. liino- 

 nium, and it is also known as S. rariftora. 



3. Upright Spiked Sea Lavender {S. binervosa). — Leaves inversely 

 egg-shaped above, narrowing below into a broadly-winged stalk, more or less 

 spine-tipped, and three-nerved at the base ; stalk branched from below the 

 panicle ; elongated branches in two rows, spikes erect ; calyx with flat blunt 

 segments, without intermediate teeth, limb white ; perennial. This plant 

 was formerly regarded as a variety of *S'. limonium, from Avhich, however, it 



Ill.-r-ll 



