*160 



SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



merous flowers, purple and veined with crimson ; 

 the Smooth-podded Sea Vetch (Vicia Icevigata), 

 with pale blue or whitish blossoms ; the Purple 

 Milk-Vetch (Astragalus hypoglottis), with stems 

 two or three feet long, and pale yellow flowers in 

 egg-shaped spikes, supported by short axillar 

 stalks ; and the Kidney-vetch or. Ladies'-fingers 

 (Anthyllis vulneraria), the stems of which are 

 about a foot high, and the corolla yellow and 

 sometimes white, a plant which, unlike the 

 preceding, grows in dry pastures near the sea. 



Several species of clover (Trifolium) are also 

 peculiar to the coast. On the south-eastern shores 

 of Britain and other districts, is found the Suffo- 

 cated Trefoil (T. suffocatum), so called from the 

 circumstance that the whole plant' is generally 

 buried in the sand, bearing heads of flowers of a 

 pale rose colour ; the Teasel-headed Trefoil (T. 

 maritimum), which flourishes in the same localities 

 as the preceding plant, has flowers of a pale red in 

 heads of an oval shape. 



The Sea Cotton-weed (Diotis maritima) is an 

 easily recognised plant belonging to the southern 

 coasts of England. The stems, which are about a 

 foot in height and branched, bear lance-shaped 

 leaves, the blossoms are yellow, and the whole 

 plant white and cottony. Then there are many 

 others which we shall only very briefly mention. 

 The Sand Strap- wort (Corrigiola littoralis), with 

 lance-shaped, linear, glaucous leaves, and terminal 

 clusters of numerous white flowers ; the Sea Plan- 

 tain (Plantago maritima) and the Buckshorn 



