CLASS V. ORDER II.] CRITHMUM. 385 



obsolete. Petals elliptical, with au acute point aud base, and a 

 slender mid-rib. Fruit rather large, elliptical, somewhat curved, 

 roundish, on a transverse section, the side slightly compressed. 

 Carpeh with five slightly winged equal ridges, the lateral ones forming 

 the margins scarcely wider than the others. Channels smooth, with 

 numerous slender simple i'?/te. Albumen half round, on a transverse 

 section. 



Habitat. — Dry alpine pastures; not unfrequent in the North of 

 England and Scotland, especially the Highlands. 



Perennial ; flowering in June and July. 



This plant, called Bald or Bald-money, is. Sir W. J. Hooker ob- 

 serves, a corruption of Balder, the Apollo of the northern nations, to 

 whom this plant was dedicated. The whole plant has a powerful 

 aromatic smell, with a warm or somewhat acrid bitterish taste, and 

 has been recommended as a carminative and stomachic in the form of 

 tea. The peculiar flavour of the plant is said to be communicated to 

 the milk and butter of the cattle feeding upon it, which, according to 

 the taste of some persons, is very agreeable. 



GENUS LXIX. CRITH'MUM.— Linn. Samphire. 



Gen. Char. Calyx margin obsolete. Petals roundish, entire, rolled 

 inwards with an obovate point. Fruit roundish on a transverse 

 section. Carpels with five elevated sharp somewhat winged 

 ridges, the lateral ones forming the margins a little wider than 

 the others. Albtimen free in the pericarp, with numerous vittce. 

 General and -partial involucre of numerous segments. — Name 

 from Kfivu), to secrete ; so named from its supposed power in 

 promoting the secretion of urine, &c. 

 1. C. mariti'mum, Linn. (Fig. 447.) Sea Samphire. Leaflets 

 lanceolate, fleshy ; segments of the involucre ovate. 



English Botany, t. 819. — English Flora, vol. ii. p. 73. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 133. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 118. 



Root long, branched, and tortuous, extending for a considerable dis- 

 tance among stones and the fissures of rocks. The whole plant smooth, 

 glaucous, fleshy. Stem erect, or ascending, from six to twelve inches 

 high, round, smooth, branched, and leafy. Leaves twice or thrice 

 lernate, on roundish footstalks, dilated into a sheathing base, leaflets 

 lanceolate, acute, tapering at the base, about an inch long. Umbels 

 lateral and terminal, general of numerous somewhat unequal rays, 

 partial of numerous short ones. General involucre of numerous ovate 

 lanceolate spreading segments, as well as the partial. Flowers nu- 



