SEASIDE FLOWERING PLANTS. 157 



Ireland, and in Scotland, is the sea gromwell or sea 

 bugloss, known to botanists as the Lithospermum 

 maritimum. The leaves of this pretty .plant are, 

 like many others belonging to the sea-shore, some- 

 what fleshy or succulent, egg-shaped, sprinkled 

 with callous dots; the stems are numerous, and 

 from one to two feet long, the flowers in leafy 

 clusters, and of a beautiful purple. 



The Dwarf Branched-centaury (Erythrcea pul- 

 chella) is another beautiful plant of the sandy 

 sea-shore. The stem of this plant is sometimes 

 much branched, sometimes simple, and only from 

 one to three inches in height, the leaves egg- 

 shaped, the flowers, which spring from the fork of 

 the stem, are slender, and are of a fine pink 

 colour, and are often found in some situations 

 in such profusion as to produce a most agree- 

 able impression upon the eye. Another species 

 (Erythrcea littoralis), minute like the preceding, 

 and perhaps a mere variety of the same species, 

 and with rose-coloured flowers in dense clusters, 

 is found in the same situations as the preceding. 



The Sea Eryngo (Eryngium maritimum) is 

 another gay and beautiful plant, the characters of 

 which are easily perceived. The stem is about a 

 foot high, round and branched ; the root-leaves 

 are roundish, plaited, and thorny, like the holly ; 

 the heads of flowers, which are stalked and 

 numerous, are of a bright blue ; the leaves are of 

 a bluish green. 



Contrasted with the eryngo is the Yellow 

 Horned Poppy (Glaucium luteum) and the Scarlet 



