FLOWERS OF THE SHORE AND CLIFFS. 307 



Everybody is well acquainted with the pretty Field Convol- 

 vulus, or Small Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), and as they 

 have just seen it growing in abundance in the fields they 

 passed through on the way to the shore, they may reasonably 

 conclude that these larger, more richly-tinted blossoms that 

 grow on the sandy shore, are simply more luxuriant examples 

 of the same species. In reality they are produced by a distinct 

 kind, the Sea-Convolvulus (C. soldanelld), which differs from 

 the common kind in the fact that clasping the base of the 

 flower and covering the sepals, there are two large leaf-like 

 bracts, whereas in arvensis these are small and placed at some 

 distance below the sepals. The leaves are fleshy, broader than 

 long, the stems are shorter, seldom more than a foot in length, 

 and very rarely do they twine around anything. The flowers, 

 as we have said, are larger and more richly coloured, only one 

 on a stalk, whilst the common sort have usually from two to 

 four. 



The Sea- Rocket (Cakile maritimd) is abundant on most 

 sandy shores. It is a large succulent plant, about two feet in 

 height, with zigzag branches, and smooth, fleshy, glaucous 

 leaves; flowers with four purplish white petals, arranged 

 cross-wise. The flowers are succeeded by large succulent 

 pods, that are divided into two by a cross-partition ; each 

 chamber contains a solitary seed. It is this pod that is most 

 1 likely to arrest attention. It flowers in June and July. 



Wall Pennywort, or Navelwort (Cotyledon umbilicus), is an 

 abundant weed in the rocks and walls of the west coast, but 

 travels no further east than to Kent. Its tuberous rootstock 

 is wedged into the crevices of the rocks and cliffs, or between 

 the flakes of which stone dykes are built. The leaf, as the 

 name suggests, is round, with the stalk in the centre ; it is 

 also thick and fleshy, the severity of the margin taken off by a 

 series of low, rounded teeth. Some of these leaves are large 

 as much as three inches across. When the flowering stalk 

 makes its appearance, another type of leaf comes with it 



