3O6 BY THE DEEP SEA. 



probably their original home may be near the sea, though the 

 texture of their leaves is not so fleshy as in our maritime 

 plants of glaucous hue. The bold, rough leaves make the 

 plant conspicuous even in winter. The name of Horned 

 Poppy is suggested by the form of the seed vessel, which is 

 similar to that of Eschscholtzia, but thicker. It is a prominent 

 feature of the flower which loses its petals after one day's 

 blossoming but they ultimately extend to a foot in length. 

 The flowers may be found from June till October. 



Saltwort (Salsola kali) is also a plant of the sandy shore, 

 with rigid brittle stems, striped and bristly, and fleshy, 

 glaucous leaves, nearly cylindrical in shape, with spiny points. 

 At their base the leaves become broader and partially clasp 

 the stem. The little flowers are leafless, borne in the axils of 

 the leaves, and to be seen only in July and August. This is 

 one of several plants that were formerly burned to make 

 Barilla, an impure carbonate of soda, much used in the manu- 

 facture of soap and glass, before the discovery of the cheap 

 production of soda from common salt. 



If my friend the reader is acquainted with the beautiful 

 white-flowered Bladder Campion (Silene cucubalus), of inland 

 hedgebanks, and he should chance to come upon the nearly 

 allied Sea-Campion (S. maritimd), he will think he has the old 

 familiar plant, so closely are the two related ; but a com- 

 parison will convince him there are differences. For instance, 

 the stems of waritima are shorter and less erect than those of 

 cucubalus. The flower cluster (panicle) is in cucubalus many- 

 flowered ; in maritima the flowers vary only between one and 

 four in a cluster, and their petals are not so deeply cleft. The 

 two scales that are obvious at the base of the broad part of 

 the petal in maritiina, are very obscure in cucubalus. Mari- 

 tima, too, has smaller leaves and larger flowers, and the scales 

 (bracts) below the flowers, which are dry and semi-transparent 

 in cticubalus, are here more fleshy. It flowers from June to 

 September. 



