Voi,. II.] 



PLUMBAGO FAMILY. 



595 



2. STATICE I,. Sp. PI. 274. 1753. 

 [ARMERIA Willd. Enum. 333. 1809.] 



Tufted acaulescent fleshy herbs, with slender mostly naked scapes, basal persistent rosu- 

 late narrow leaves with no differentiation into blade and petiole, and rather small short-pedi- 

 celled or sessile flowers, in dense terminal glomerate heads, subtended by scarious bracts 

 and bractlets, the lower bracts forming a kind of involucre to the head, the two lowest 

 reflexed and more or less united into a sheath. Calyx funnelform, lo-ribbed, 5-toothed, ob- 

 lique at the base or decurrent on the pedicel, scarious. Petals 5, distinct, or more or less 

 coherent. Filaments adnate to the bases of the petals. Styles united at the base, pubescent 

 below the middle, longitudinally stigmatic above. Utricle 5-pointed at the summit, rarely 

 dehiscent. [Greek, standing.] 



About 20 species, natives of Europe, north Africa, western Asia, northern North America and 

 southern South America. The following is the only one known in North America. 



i. Statice Armeria L. 

 Ladies' Cushion. 



Thrift. Sea Pink. 

 (Fig. 2828.) 



Statice Armeria L. Sp. PI. 274. 1753. 

 Armeria vulgarts Willd. Enum. 333. 1809. 



Scape glabrous or somewhat pubescent, 4 / -i8 / high. 

 Leaves narrowly linear, acute or obtuse, flattish, ob- 

 scurely i-nerved, entire, numerous in a radial tuft, I'-tf 

 long, l /t f '-^/i" wide; bracts scarious and obtuse, the 2 

 lower ones forming a sheath 3 // -io // long; head of flowers 

 Yz'-i' in diameter; calyx-base decurrent on the very short 

 pedicel, pubescent at least on the stronger nerves; corolla 

 pink, purple or white, 2"-$" broad; petals obtuse or 

 cuspidate. 



Along the sea-coast and on mountains, Labrador to Alaska, 

 south on the Pacific Coast to California. Also in Europe, 

 northern Asia, and apparently the same species at the Strait 

 of Magellan. Summer. Called also Sea-thrift, Sea-gilli- 

 flower, Sea-grass, Red-root. 



1828. 



Family 9. SAPOTACEAE Reichenb. Consp. 135. 



SAPODILLA FAMILY. 



Shrubs or trees, mostly with a milky juice. Leaves alternate, simple, entire, 

 pinnately-veined, mostly coriaceous and exstipulate. Flowers small, regular 

 and perfect, in axillary clusters. Calyx inferior, polysepalous, the sepals usu- 

 ally 4-7, much imbricated. Corolla gamopetalous, the tube campanulate or 

 urceolate, 4-7-lobed, the lobes imbricated in the bud, sometimes with as many 

 or twice as many lobe-like appendages borne on the throat. Stamens as many 

 as the proper lobes of the corolla and inserted on its tube; staminodia usually 

 present, alternate with the corolla-lobes; filaments mostly short, subulate; 

 anthers attached by their bases to the filaments, or versatile, 2-celled, the sacs 

 longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary superior, 2-5-celled, or rarely many-celled; 

 ovules solitary in each cavity, anatropous or amphitropous; style conic or subu- 

 late; stigma simple. Fruit a fleshy berry, commonly i -celled and i -seeded, 

 sometimes several-seeded. Seed large, the testa bony or crustaceous; embryo 

 straight; endosperm fleshy, or none. 



About 35 genera and 400 species, mostly of tropical regions in both the Old World and the New. 

 Besides the following, 4 other genera occur in south Florida. 



i. BUMELIA Sw. Prodr. 49. 1788. 



Shrubs or trees, often spiny, with very hard wood, alternate coriaceous or membranous 

 leaves, sometimes clustered at the nodes, and small pedicelled white flowers, fascicled in 

 the axils. Calyx very deeply 5-parted, the segments much imbricated, unequal. Corolla 

 5-lobed, with a pair of lobe-like appendages at each sinus, its tube short. Stamens 5, in- 

 serted near the base of the corolla-tube; filaments filiform; anthers sagittate. Staminodia 

 5, petaloid, alternate with the stamens. Ovary 5-celled; style filiform. Berry globose or 

 ellipsoid, small, the pericarp fleshy; enclosing a single erect seed. Seed shining, the hiluin 

 at the base. [Greek, ox [large] ash.] 



About 30 species, natives of America. Besides the following, some 10 others occur in the 

 southern and southwestern United States. 



Foliage, pedicels and calyx glabrous or very nearly so. 

 Foliage, pedicels and calyx tomentose-pubescent. 



1. B. lycioides. 



2. B. lanuginosa. 



