MARITIME PB1MULACE.E. 277 



its place ; in all other respects the little plant has the 

 structure of the family. It has creeping stems which 

 send up erect branches from two to six inches high, 

 with small, oblong, fleshy leaves in whose axils small 

 pink flowers are sessile. Each flower is five-cleft, and 

 contains five stamens and one style. The common 

 Brook-weed (Samolus Valerandi), which grows in wet 

 places, is another Primulaceous plant, interesting both 

 from its structure and history. In form its flowers 

 resemble very minute primroses, but have a row of 

 rudimentary stamens alternate with the lobes of the 

 corolla, and the sides of the ovary are united to the 

 calyx. In both these characters it differs from other 

 Primulacece. The point most curious in its history is 

 that it is one of a small genus, whose species are found 

 widely apart, and that it is itself a native not merely 

 of the shores of Europe and America, but also of South 

 Africa and New Holland. With the exception of Car- 

 damine hirsuta, perhaps none of our wild-plants, that is 

 not an absolute weed, has a wider range than Samolus. 

 In places similar to where the Glaux is found, grow 

 Arenaria marina and rubra (if they be distinct), small 

 biennials with awl-shaped, opposite, fleshy leaves, and 

 starry purple flowers that open in sunshine ; each 

 flower with five petals, ten stamens, and three styles. 

 These little plants are associated by botanists with the 

 Chickweed, and also with Pinks and Carnations in an 

 order called Caryophyllece. To the same order belongs 

 the Catchfly (Silene), a species of which (Silene mari- 

 tima), with bladdery calyces and smooth fleshy leaves, 

 grows along the margin of the sea. 



