LITHOSPERMUM.] BORAGINE& 279 



Cymes capitate, small, strigose, on short leafy axillary branches ; bracts 

 longer than the calyx ; flowers subsessile. Sepals equalling the corolla. 

 Corolla % in. diam., yellow-white. Nutlets 1-2, narrowed upwards, shining. 

 DISTRIB. Europe, N. and W. Asia ; introd. in N. America. 



2. !. arven'se, L. ; annual, stems solitary erect branched, leaves sessile 

 l-amplexicaul linear-oblong, nutlets grey shining wrinkled. 



Cornfields and waste places from Eoss southd. ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; 

 fl. May-June. Root tapering. Stem 10-16 in., stout, flexuous, shortly 

 hispid. Leaves, radical obovate-lanceolate, petioled ; cauline 2-3 in., obtuse. 

 Cymes short, terminal ; bracts large, leafy ; pedicels very short. Flowers 

 honeyed, homomorphous. Sepals narrow-linear, almost equalling the corolla. 

 Corolla ^ in., cream-white. Nutlets narrowed upwards. DISTRIB. Europe, 

 N. Africa, N. and W. Asia, N.W. India ; introd. in the U. States. Yields 

 a red dye. 



3. Ii. purpu'reo-cseru'leum, L. ; perennial, barren steins creeping, 

 flowering erect, leaves subsessile narrow-lanceolate, nutlets white smooth. 

 Copses on limestone and chalk, very rare, Wales, Devon to Kent ; fl. June- 

 July. Eootstock creeping, woody, slender. Stems 1 ft., scabrid, flowering 

 1-2 ft., leafy, rigid, simple or branched. Leaves 1^-3 in., rather softly 

 strigose. Cymes terminal, few-fld. ; bracts large, leafy ; pedicels very short. 

 Sepals very slender, much shorter than the corolla. Corolla in., bright 

 blue-purple. Nutlets 1-2, nearly globose, shining. DISTRIB. From Belgium 

 southd. 



5. MERTEN'SIA, Roth. 



Perennial herbs. Leaves usually obovate, lower petioled, upper sessile. 

 Flowers in terminal cymes, blue-purple, dimorphic. Calyx 5-fid or -par- 

 tite. Corolla-tube cylindric, limb campanulate, 5-fid or -partite, throat 

 naked or with 5 transverse folds. Stamens 5, towards the top of the 

 corolla- tube. Style filiform, lengthened after flowering, stigma obtuse. 

 Nutlets 4, rather fleshy, smooth or rough, base contracted, receptacle 

 small 2-4-lobed. DISTRIB. N. and Arctic Europe, Asia, and America ; 

 species 15. ETYM. Prof. F. C. Mertens, a German botanist. 



M. marit'ima, Don ; glabrous, glaucous, leaves ovate or obovate. 

 Sea-shores, Wales and Berwick to Shetland ; Ireland ; fl. May-June. Suc- 

 culent. Rootstock fleshy, stoloniferous. Stems 1-2 ft., decumbent, leafy, 

 much branched. Leaves 2-farious, 1-3 in., lower petioled, upper sessile, 

 with prominent callous points when dry. Cymes dichotomous, with 2 

 opposite leafy bracts at the base ; pedicels short, decurved in fruit. Calyx 

 angular in fruit ; lobes ovate. Corolla J in. diam., 5-lobed to the middle, 

 pink then blue, throat with 5 folds. Nutlets flattened, large, fleshy, outer 

 coat becoming inflated and papery, back rounded. DISTRIB. Lapland to 

 Denmark, N. and Arctic shores of Asia and America. 



6. PULMONA'RIA, Tournef. LUNGWORT. 



Perennial herbs ; rootstock creeping, usually terminating in sterile 

 branches. Flowering -stems simple. Cymes terminal. Flowers often 



