312 PLUMBAGINACE^E. (LEADWORT FAMILY.) 



coarsely and sparingly toothed; seeds usually 2. — Sandy grounds, Rhode 

 Island to Illinois and southward. May - Sept. 



* * Stamens only 2 : leaves narrowly linear or thread-shaped, barely 1-ribbed: spike 

 mostly slender, of few or many crowded or scattered small flowers. 



8. P. pusilla, Nutt. Minutely pubescent (1'- 4' high) ; leaves entire ; pod 

 short-ovoid, 4-seeded, little exceeding the calyx and bract. — Dry hills, New York 

 to Illinois, and southward. April- Aug. 



9- P. heteroph^lla, Nutt. Leaves rather fleshy, acute, entire, or some 

 of them below 2-4-lobed or toothed; pod oblong-conoidal, 10-28-seeiled, nearly 

 twice the length of the calyx and bract. (P. pusilla, Decaisne, in DC.) — Low or 

 sandy grounds, from Philadelphia southward. April -June. — Plant 2' -8' 

 high. 



§ 3. Flowers all commonly fertile, but of 2 sorts on different plants ; the more common 

 with very small anthers on short filaments (perhaps early and close-fertilized) ; oth- 

 ers with large anthers on long-exserted filaments : corolla with broad round lobes 

 permanently widely spreading : seeds 2 (one in each cell), boat-shaped, deeply hol- 

 lowed on the face: mostly annuals, with narrow and woolly or hairy leaves. 



10. P. Patagonica, Jacq. Silky- woolly, or becoming naked; leaves 1- 

 3-nerved ; spike cylindrical or oblong, dense ; sepals very obtuse, scarious, with 

 a thick centre. (Found through almost the whole length of America.) 



Var. gnaphalioid.es, Gray. White with silky wool ; leaves varying from 

 oblong-linear to filiform; spike very dense (|' 4' long), woolly; bracts not 

 exceeding the calyx. (P. Lagopus, Pursh. P. gnaphalioides, Nutt.) — Dry 

 plains, W. Wisconsin and southwestward. — Runs through var. spinulosa and 

 var. nuda into 



Var. aristata, Gray. Loosely hairy and green, or becoming glabrous ; 

 bracts awned, 2-3 times the length of the flowers. (P. aristata, Michx., &c.) — 

 Illinois and southwestward. 



Order G3. PLUMBAGINACEiE. (Leadwort Family.) 



Maritime herbs, with regular 5-merous flowers, a plaited calyx, the 5 sta- 

 mens opposite the separate petals or the lobes of the corolla, and the free ovary 

 one-celled, with a solitary ovule hanging from a long cord which rises from 

 the base of the cell. — The Statice.e or Marsh-Rosemary Tribe only 

 is represented in our region, in gardens by the Thrift (Armeria vul- 

 garis), on the coast by a single species of 



1 . STATICE, Tourn. Sea-Lavender. Marsh-Rosemary. 



Flowers scattered or loosely spiked and 1-sided on the branches, 2-3-bracted. 

 Calyx funnel-form, dry and membranaceous, persistent. Corolla of 5 nearly or 

 quite distinct petals, with long claws, the 5 stamens severally attached to their 

 liases. Styles 5, rarely 3, separate. Fruit membranous and indehisccnt, 1-seeded, 

 in the bottom of the calyx. Embryo straight, in mealy albumen. — Sea-side 

 perennials, with thick and stalked radical leaves ; the naked flowering stems or 



