304 I'linWLACE^. [HoTTOSiA. 



Ponds and marshes, local, from Durham and Westmoreland southwards to 

 Hampshire ; Co. Down in Ireland ; fl. May-June, Pale green, glabrous, 

 except the slightly glandular-hairy inflorescence. Stem branched ; branches 

 leafy, 6-10 in., radiating from the base of the scape, creeping and floating, 

 as thick as a goosequill, succulent ; joints not inflated. Leares 1-2 in., 

 imperfectly whorled ; segments slender, linear, acute. Scape 1-2 ft., stout, 

 erect. Whorls 4-S-flowered ; pedicels jj-li in., decurved in fruit ; bracts 

 linear. Calyx-Mies J in., linear. Corolla f in. diam., lilac with a yellow 

 eye; lobes obtuse. Capsule the size of a small pea. DiSTRiB. Europe, 

 excl. Spain Greece and Turkey, W. Siberia. 



8. SA'MOLUS, Tournef. BROOK-WEED. 



Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate or mostly radical. Flowers 

 in terminal racemes or corymbs, white; pedicels bracteate. ''"///./ 

 4-superior, limb 5-fid. Corolla perigynous, subcampanulate, 5-partitc. 

 Stamens 5, on the tube or throat of the corolla, alternating with stami- 

 nodes, filaments very short. Ovary subglobose ; style short, stigma obtuse 

 or capitate ; ovules many, anatropous. Capsule ^-inferior, ovoid, 5-valved 

 above the calyx-tube, many-seeded. Seeds angular, hilum basilar. 

 DISTRIB. Temp, climates; species about 10. ETYM. obscure. 



1. S. Valeran'di, L.; leaves obovate or spathulate obtuse or apiculate. 

 Wet ground and ditches, often near the sea, from Skye and Moray southwards ; 

 fl. June-Sept. Glabrous, rather shining. Rootstock short. Stem J-2 ft., 

 erect, with prostrate or ascending sometimes rooting branches from the 

 base. Leaves 14 in., quite entire, radical rosulate, cauline alternate. 

 Racemes ^- in., erect ; pedicels ascending, bract above their middle small 

 lanceolate. Calyx-tube hemispherical ; lobes deltoid, acute. Corolla i in. 

 diam., lobes short, obtuse. Stamens included. Capsule | in. diam., globose. 

 Seeds rough. DISTHIB. Temp. N. hemisphere. 



ORDER L1X. PLUMBAGIN E/E. 



Herbs, often maritime, rarely shrubs. Leaves alternate or radical, 

 exstipulate. Flov;ers regular, 2-sexual ; bracteoles and bracts usually 3. 

 Calyx inferior, tubular ; limb 5-clef't, plaited, often scarious and coloured. 

 Petals 5, hypogynous, claws long free or slightly cohering, twisted in bud, 

 or combined into a monopetalous imbricate corolla. Stamens 5, opposite 

 the corolla-lobes, epipetalous (hypogynous in the monopetalous genera), 

 filaments filiform ; anther-cells bursting inwards, separate below. <>mrii 

 free, 1-celled; styles 5, rarely 3-4, distinct or cohering, stigmas capilhiry 

 or linear ; ovule solitary, anatropous, suspended from a basal fuuicle. 

 Fruit enclosed in the calyx-tube, membranous, bursting irregularly or 5- 

 valved. Seed pendulous, albumen scanty floury ; embryo straight, coty- 

 ledons flat, radicle cylindric superior. DISTRIB. All regions ; genera 10 ; 

 species about 200. AFFINITIES. Nearest to Primulaccce, but distant. 

 PROPERTIES. Astringent, but unimportant. 



Scape terminated by a bracteate head 1. Armeria. 



Scape terminated by panicled unilateral cymes 2. Statice. 



