Statice.] PLUMB AG1NEJE. 259 



stigmas capillary papillose. Fruit as in Armeria. — Disteib. Chiefly 



I saline districts and shores of temp, seas, most common in W. Asia ; species 

 50-60. — Etym. The Greek name for some astringent herb. 

 ; 





* Leaves pinnately-nerved. Calyx-lobes with intermediate teeth. 

 1. S. Limo'nium, L. ; leaves usually long-petioled 1-ribbed, scape 



branched above, branches nearly all flowering. 



Muddy shores, from Fife and Dumfries to Kent and Devon ; Ireland ; Channel 

 Islands ; fl. July-Nov. — Glabrous. liootstock stout, woody, creeping, 

 branched. Leaves 2-4 in., oblong- or obovate-lanceolate, variable in breadth, 

 often mucronate ; petiole usually slender. Scapes many, G-18 in., angular, 

 corymbosely branched. Spikelets 2-3-fld., § in., alternate, erect, secund ; 

 outer bracts herbaceous margins scarious, intermediate scarious, inner 

 scarious and green at the back. Calyx purplish-green ; lobes triangular- 

 ovate, often jagged, much enlarged after flowering. Corolla J in., blue-purple. 

 — Distrib. Europe, N. Africa, N. America. 



Limo'nium proper ; inner bract about twice as long as the intermediate. 

 Absent from Ireland. — Var. S. Be'hen, Drejer ; spikelets on corymbose 

 compact or spreading or recurved branches. — Var. S. serot'ina, Reichb.; 

 spikelets in pyramidal panicles with flexuous spreading branches, spikelets 

 rather lax short. S. coast. 



Sub-sp. S. rariflora, Drejer; spikelets lax on distant erect or incurved 

 branches, inner bract once to once and a half as long as the intermediate. 

 S. bahusien'sis, Fries. 



** Leaves 1-3-nerved. Calyx-lobes without intermediate teeth. 

 2. S. auriculsefo'lia, Vahl ; leaves shortly petioled 3-nerved at the 

 base, scape branched from about the middle, branches nearly all flowering, 

 calyx-lobes obtuse. S. spathula'ta, Hook, not Desf. 



Sea-shores, from Lincoln on the E. and Wigton on the W. to Cornwall and 

 Kent ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. July-Aug. —Glabrous. Rootstock 

 short, stout, branched. Leaves 1-4 in., often mucronate. Scapes 4-10 in., 

 paniculately branched ; spikelets unilateral, often imbricate ; bracts often 

 coloured, inner twice as long as the intermediate ; flowers as in S. Limo'nium. 

 Calyx-limb white. Corolla blue-purple. — Distrib. Coasts of France, Spain, 

 and the Mediterranean. — Boissier (who has examined Vahl's plant) refers 

 this (in Herb. Hook.) to auricul(efo'lia,a,nd in DC. Prodr. he refers the latter 

 to his oxyle'pis. 



S. auricidcefo'lia proper (S. occidenta'lis, Lloyd ; S. binervo'sa, G. E. Sm.) ; leaves 

 obovate-lanceolate, branches of panicle ascending, lower sometimes flower- 

 less, spikelets slender erect or ascending. — Var. interme'dia, Syme ; leaves 

 obovate-lanceolate, branches of panicle ascending usually all flowering, 

 spikelets stout spreading or ascending. — Var. S. Dodar'tii, Gir. ; leaves 

 spathulate, branches of panicle short spreading often in pairs all flowering, 

 spikelets crowded stout spreading. Portland. 



3. S. bellidifo'lia, Gouan ; leaves shortly petioled 1-ribbed, scape 

 branched from near the base, branches flexuous most of them flowerl ess, 

 calyx-lobes mucronate. S. cas'pia, Willd. ; 1 S. reticulata, L. 



s 2 



