12 LYTHRARI^— LOOSESTRIFE TRIBE 



about Brussels, especially near Laerken, the king's country palace. The 

 French, Italians, and Spaniards call it Salicaire ; the Germans term it Braune 

 weiderich ; the Dutch, Partyke ; and the Russians, Plakun. The streams 

 about Australia are as gay in summer with its crimson blooms as are our 

 own watersides ; and the same, or a very similar species, blooms on the 

 borders of lakes in Mexico. In the latter country several species of Lythrum 

 are found, and they are very generally used as applications to wounds. Our 

 own Grass-poly is very astringent and tonic, and has been recommended by 

 De Haen and other continental physicians for intermittent fevers. Though 

 it has long been celebrated in Ireland for its remedial uses, it is rarely pre- 

 scribed in England by regular practitioners. Its leaves contain tannin, and 

 have been used with success in the preparation of leather. In India the 

 flowers of the Lythrum hunferii are mixed with the blossoms of the Morinda, 

 and are then called Dhatmj, and commonly used as a dye. 



2. Hyssop-leaved Purple Loosestrife {L. hyssopifdliuni). — Leaves 

 mostly alternate, linear-lanceolate, blunt ; flowers axillary, solitary ; bracts 2, 

 very small, and awl-shaped ; stamens about 6. Plant annual. This species 

 is so unlike the last in its general appearance, that only the botanist would 

 perceive the affinity of the two. It is a lowly plant, about four or five inches 

 high, having a few little blossoms growing singly between the leaves and 

 stem. They are of a dull purplish-lilac colour, expanding in July. This 

 may occasionally be seen growing with the taller Loosestrife at the edge of 

 the water, but is more likely to be found in bogs or among the grass of 

 woods which have standing pools among their trees. It is not anywhere a 

 common flower, but the author found it some years since in some profusion 

 in Eridge woods, near Tunbridge Wells, and it has been recorded from Herts, 

 Cambs, Northants, Norfolk, and Cornwall. 



2. Water-Purslane {P^plis). 



Common Water- Purslane (P. 27(^r/?<Za). — Leaves inversely egg- 

 shaped ; flowers solitary. Plant annual. Those who were intent on gather- 

 ing a wild nosegay would leave this little aquatic untouched, or probably 

 pass it by unnoticed. It grows either on moist lands or on places sometimes 

 overflowed by water, having often a reddish tinge on its stems and leaves. 

 It is a lowly creeping plant, and not unfrequent ; its stems being from four 

 to six inches long, with few branches. Its small green flowers, often without 

 petals, appear in July and August. 



Order XXXI. TAMARISCINEiE— TAMARISK TRIBE. 



Sepals 4 — 5, overlapping when in bud, remaining after the corolla is 

 withered ; petals 4 — 5 from the base of the calyx ; stamens either equal to 

 the petals in number, or twice as many, distinct or united by their filaments ; 

 ovary not combined with the calyx ; styles 3 ; capsule 3-valved, 1-celled, 

 containing many seeds, which have downy tufts at the extremity. The 

 plants of this order are mostly shrubs, with long slender branches and small 

 scale-like leaves. They are very numerous on the shores of the Mediterranean, 



