74 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



contains few forms that can vie in grace with those of the 

 hedgerow, the forest, or the stream, but which is, neverthe- 

 less, far richer than many who had never explored its un- 

 promising stretches would imagine, and that contains many 

 quaint and beautiful forms that can be seen in such situa- 

 tions alone. The hard conditions under which these plants 

 have to grow gives them often, too, a weird and angular 

 individuality that is very curious ; something like that of 

 trees growing near some open coast which show clearly how 

 hard the struggle for existence has been ; the branches 

 seem blown landward, and the whole form is crippled and 

 bereft of its natural appearance in the hard fight against 

 the bleak salt-laden winds that roar at times with an almost 

 resistless fury over the inhospitable shore. 



We have already represented the yellow horned-poppy, 

 one of the most striking plants of the maritime flora, and 

 the present illustration gives us another, the sea-lavender. 



The sea-lavender, or Statice Liinonium of the systematic 

 botanist, is frequently met with on the muddy shores at the 

 mouth of some river, and in the salt-marshes that fringe 

 the sea in many places. It is less common, however, in 

 Scotland than in either England or Ireland, only one or two 

 localities being given for it in the floras of the former 

 country, while in England especially it is freely found 

 where the conditions of growth are favourable. It appears 

 to bear removal well; we have seen it flourishing and a 

 perfect mass of bloom in gardens some distance from the 

 sea. July, August, and September are the months in which 

 it will ordinarily be found in flower. 



The stock of the root of the sea-lavender is perennial, 

 and from this rise the tufts of large radical leaves. These 

 leaves are dark green in colour, glossy in surface, somewhat 



