Linnaan Societt/. 229 



LINNiEAN SOCIETY. 

 January 21, 1 85 1 .—William Yarrell, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 



Read a memoir " On the various forms of Salicornia." Bj' Joseph 

 Woods, Esq., F.L.S. : with some additional remarks by Richard 

 Kippist, Esq., Libr. L.S. 



The paper relates almost exclusively to the British species of Sali- 

 cornia, and more particularly to those which occur on the coasts of 

 Sussex and Hampshire. 



The author begins by noticing what he considers as the typical 

 form of 5. herbacea. This he describes as always erect, except 

 that late in the autumn, the branches, usually spreading or ascending, 

 are sometimes borne down by the weight of the fruit-spikes. The 

 colour is green, generally glaucous, but never red. The spikes of 

 fruit are cylindrical, 2 or 3 inches long, (ten to fifteen times their 

 thickness,) and contain from ten to fifteen sets of seeds. 



The second form (5. procumbens, Sm.), which is stated to be 

 more common than the first, is described as procumbent, decumbent, 

 or ascending, but always with a bend at the top of the root, and 

 therefore never erect : the branches and their subdivisions are much 

 shorter and more numerous than in the typical form, and at the 

 same time much more divaricate, the lower ones especially being 

 frequently recurved ; and these lower branches being much longer 

 than the succeeding ones, give to the entire plant a triangular out- 

 line. The colour at maturity is always red. The spikes hardly 

 exceed half an inch in length (about four or five times their own 

 thickness) and contain about six sets of seeds each. 



The next form noticed by Mr. Woods, and which he proposes to 

 caU 5*. ramosissima, is described as much larger than either of the 

 preceding, erect, very much branched and bushy, of a grass-green 

 colour, but touched with red, the branches ascending, and the spikes 

 not cyUndrical or oblong, but somewhat lanceolate, the longest about 

 an inch in length (six or seven times their thickness) and containing 

 about the same number of sets of seeds as S. procumbetis. This, 

 which appears to be a rare form, was gathered in Haling Island. 



Mr. Woods now proceeds to describe two intermediate forms, 

 apparently serving to unite the three preceding. The smallest of 

 these, which the author proposes to designate S. pusilla, seems closely 

 to resemble S. procumbens, from which it differs in its smaller size 

 and less triangular outline, its erect or suberect branches, the lowest 

 of which are neither larger nor more branched than the succeeding 

 ones, and in its still shorter spikes, which scarcely exceed ^ inch 

 in length, being sometimes almost globular, and containing about 

 five sets of seeds. The other form, which the author calls S. intermedia, 

 and which is stated to be the most abundant on the muddy salt 

 marshes of Sussex, embraces several subvarieties, all of which are 

 erect, but vary much in other respects, sometimes resembling S. pu- 

 silla, but with much longer and redder spikes ; in other cases ap- 

 proaching the typical form of S. herbacea, in their yellowish green 

 colour, hardly tinged with red, cylindrical spikes an inch or more 



