PLANTAGINACE^E t8i 



much branched with numerous lower sterile branches, branchlets rigid. Panicle 

 elongated and irregular with long lax curved unilateral spikes of arcuate almost 

 contiguous or distant spikelets. Inner bract almost four times longer than outer. 

 Calyx arcuate with ovate-obtuse teeth. Corolla violet, large. 



Sandy fields and salt marshes, very local. June-September. Near Hy6res 

 (Vieux Salins, Pesquiers, and Plage de Giens) and from Sanary to Brusc. 



S. minuta L. Plant glabrous (or pubescent, when it is var. punescens 

 (Rchb.) non DC.), 3-15 cm. high, with stout woody root. Leaves in a rosette, 

 and crowded below, small, imbricate, obovate or lanceolate-spathulate obtuse or 

 retuse, thick, with revolute margins very conspicuous when dry. Scape weak 

 and slender, with few straight sterile branches and small loose irregular panicle 

 with lax non-contiguous spikelets. Inner bract three times longer than the acute 

 outer. Calyx-teeth acute. Corolla small, violet. 



Maritime rocks of the Var, local but sometimes abundant, as at Giens and the 

 three lies d'Hyeres. June-August. 



S. pubescens DC. Plant densely and softly hairy, 10-25 cm - high. 

 Leaves irregularly crowded at base of scape, small, imbricate, obcordate-cuneate, 

 retuse, thick with revolute margins, conspicuous when dry. Scape flexuous with 

 numerous multifid sterile branches and short spikes of almost contiguous spikelets 

 forming a rather close panicle. Inner bract three times longer than the blunt 

 outer. Calyx-teeth obtuse. Corolla small, violet. 



Often found with S. minuta but much scarcer. Frejus, St. Cyr, Six-Fours, 

 au Brusc. Rocks below the Capo at Bordighera. June-September. 



S. echioides L. Annual, glabrous, 5-25 cm. high, root slender. Leaves 

 in a rosette, obovate-obtuse, sometimes mucronate, tubercled above. Scape 

 slender, flexuous, rather scabrid, with long erect or patent fragile branches, all 

 fertile, bearing one (rarely two) flowered distant spikelets (rarely fascicled), 

 forming a lax unilateral panicle. Inner bract 4-5 times longer than outer, 

 tubercled. Calyx arcuate, teeth terminated by persistent hooked awns. Corolla 

 small, pale pink (or lilac). 



Uncultivated, sandy, and rocky places, rare. May-July. Near Frejus, Gon- 

 faron, Le Luc, Le Brusc, Toulon, St. Cyr, Presqu'ile de Giens, Cannes, and 

 Ventimiglia. 



ARMERIA L. THRIFT. 



A. plantaginea Willd. Plantain-leaved Thrift. Much like the common 

 Thrift (A. vulgaris Willd.) which appears to be absent from the Riviera, but 

 the leaves are much broader and often longer, usually with 3 or 5 parallel veins, 

 the scape 1-2 ft. high, and the slender calyx-teeth are much longer. 



Pastures and meadows in the mountain region. May-August. 



A. bupleuroides Gren. tt Godr. Resembling the last, but with more woody 

 root-stock. Leaves almost glaucous, wavy at the' borders. Flowers white. 

 Calyx-tube with narrower ribs and triangular lobes. 



Pastures and grassy places, rather rare, e.g. near Le Pradet. May-August. 



A. filicaulis Boiss. Plant densely tufted, glabrous. Leaves linear, chan- 

 nelled, rough at the edges, the outer ones shorter and flatter. Scape very 

 slender, a foot high. Head small. Flowers white or pinkish. 



Sandy ground, very rare. July-October. Only on dolomitic hills near 

 Sollies-Toucas (Var). 



A. alpina Willd., with its handsome heads of bright rose-coloured flowers, 

 grows on the top of the Mont de la Chens (Var), and in the Alpine region of the 

 Maritime Alps, in both districts well above the altitudinal limit taken in this work. 



PLANTAGINACEJE. 



This family has only 3 genera, of which one only is represented in the South 

 of France. In PlantagO the flowers are hermaphrodite, in terminal heads or 

 spikes. 



