1 7 o FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 



The flowers are small, and are not conspicuous. The petals have 

 but a short stalk. The stigma is simple, and cross-pollination is not so 

 likely as self-pollination. The visitors are Diptera (Syrphiclse), Eristalis 

 tenax, Helophiliis floreus, Melanostoma viellina, Coleoptera, Cetonia 

 ait rat a. 



The fruit is dispersed by its own agency. The pods are globose, 

 and contain many seeds, which are dispersed with the bursting of the 

 capsule when dry and ripe, the seeds becoming turgid or swollen. 



Photo. ]. H. Crabtree 



COMMON SCURVY GRASS (Cochlearia officinalis, L.) 



The seeds are flattened lengthwise, with a notch at the apex. The 

 testa is brown and covered with wartlike projections, blunt, large, and 

 crystalline in lines. In water these lengthen and become transparent, 

 and there are then visible furrowed threadlike thickenings. They do 

 not burst but become larger in water, and these mucilage cells help to 

 fix the seed in the ground. 



The plant is a halophyte or salt-loving plant, and requires a saline 

 soil. 



Scurvy Grass is not infested by fungi, but by such beetles as 

 Psylliodes marcida, Ceutorhynchus Cochlearice, Ph&don armoracic?, 

 and Lepidoptera, the large \Yhite Butterfly, Pieris brassier, Aplecta, 

 Cidaria, Botys forficalis. 



Gesner gave the name Cochlearia, from Latin cochlear, spoon, in 



