ORDER 80. PLUMBAGINACEJ3. 507 



1[ Can. to Ga. Common in pastures and grass lands. Easily known Dy its longer 

 Ivs. tapering at the base into a broad stalk, and with from 3 to 5 strong ribs ; by 

 its shorter spike (1 to 2' long), with dark colored corollas, and whitish, projecting 

 stamens, and its slender, upright stalk (8 to 15' long) with prominent angles. 

 Flowering from May to Oct. It is freely eaten by cattle. 



5 P. sparsiflora MX. Lvs. lanceolate or oblong, tapering at each end, petiole 

 flat ; ped. slender, terete, much longer than the Ivs. ; spike long, remotely-flowered, 

 or interrupted; bracts, sepals and brown petals obtuse. Moist pine barrens, S. Car. 

 and Ga. (Curtis). Plant usually smooth often pubescent below. Flowers all sum- 

 mer. (P. interrupta Lam.) 



6 P. maritima L. Lvs. linear, channeled, nearly entire, woolly at base ; spikes 

 cylindrical, dense ; scape round ; posterior sep. concave and crested on the back. 

 Grows in salt marshes, along tho coast, Me. to N. J. It has a large perennial 

 root sending up a scape varying in height from 3' to If, and numerous, very 

 fleshy, dark green, linear leaves, deeply grooved on the inside and 6 to 10' long. 

 Spike slender, of numerous, subimbricate, whitish fls. Aug. 



P. juncoides. Lvs. erect, entire, linear, fleshy, attenuated to the subacute 

 apex, bearded at base ; scapes terete, scarcely longer than the Ivs. ; spikes oblong, 



nostly loose-flowered ; bracts orbicular-ciliate ; sep. not crested. Salt marshes, N. 

 J. Plant more slender than the preceding. Jl. (P. maritima ft. Poir.) 



8 P. aristata MX. Lvs. linear, erect, villous; ped. terete, longer than the leaves; 

 spikes cylindrical, dense-flowered, villous when young ; bracts attenuated to long, 

 setaceous, rigid awns ; cor. lobes round-cordate, uniformly colored, conspicuous j 

 seeds large, finely punctate in lines. Prairies in 111., abundant at Odin's Station. 

 Lvs. 3 to 4' long. Ped. with spike about 9' high, tho latter beset with awns 3 to 

 6 to 8'' long. Jn., Jl. (P. Patagonica Gray.) 



9 P. Virginia a L. LESSER PLANTAIN. Lvs. obovate-lanceolate, hoary pubes- 

 cent, subdenticulate ; scape angular ; spikes cylindric, pubescent, dense-flowered 

 above, often loose-flowered below ; seeds rarely more than 2 ; bracts shorter than 

 the ciliate sep. A biennial species on sandy or stony hills in the southern part of 

 N. Eng. and N. Y. to Ga. and La. Much smaller than P. major. The whole 

 plant is covered with soft, gray pubescence. Scape 4 to 8' high, hairy. Lvs. 2 

 to 3' long, narrowed at base into petioles, obtuse at tho end. Cor. yellowish, with 

 very acute segments, erect when including tho stamens.. Jl. (P. purpuruscens 

 Nutt?) 



1Q P. heteroph^lla Nutt. Lvs. linear, entire, and with a few slender teeth or 

 lobes, attenuate at each end ; ped. many, slender, as long as the Ivs ; spikes loose- 

 flowered; cor. closed upon the conical fruit, the short lobes crowning it as a crest; 

 pyxis 10 to 20-seeded. (g) Wet grounds. Md. to La, Small and slender. 

 Scape almost threadlike, 4 to 7' high, Ivs. about 3'. (P. pusilla Dene. P. Ludo- 

 viciana Eiddell.) 



11 P. pusilla Nutt. Lvs. linear, entire, thin, pubescent ; scapes longer than the 

 Ivs., very slender, with scattered or approximate fls. ; fr. scarcely longer than the 

 calyx, crowned with tho cor. lobes, 4-seeded. (J) The smallest species of the 

 genus, 1 to 6' high, in dry soils, K Y. to Ga and W. States. (P. perpusilla 

 Dene.) 



ORDER LXXX. PLUMBAGINACE^E. LEADWOKTS. 



Herbs or undershrubs with tho leaves alternate or all clustered at the root. Flouft 

 ers regular. Calyx tubular, 5-toothed, plaited, persistent. Corolla hypocrateriform, 

 of 5 petals united at base, or sometimes almost distinct. Sta. 5, hypogynous and 

 opposite the petals or inserted on their claws. Ova. 1 -celled, free from the calyx. 

 Styles 5 (seldom 3 or 4). Fr. a utricle, or dehiscent by valves, containing 1 ana- 

 tropous seed. 



Genera 10, species 230, mostly seaside or salt marsh plants, found in all latitudes. 



Properties. The root of Statice Limonium is one of the best and most powerful of all astrin- 

 gents. The species of Plumbago are acrid and escharotic, so much so, that the roots of P. Eu- 

 ropaeus are said by Lindley to be employed in Europe by beggars, to raise blisters on the face, 

 in order to excite compassion. 



