PRIMULACE^. 155 



aro in health mast not shrink from searching iho salt marshes on tho coast, for nmiiy 

 very chiirniing botanical trunsuroH tind thoir homos there. It is said that the Iciivch 

 and Ntem of tho plant make a good picklo after tho manner of somphiro. 



GENUS TX.—S A M O L U S. Tounu'/. 



Calyx with tho tiiltc iidlicrinf; to tho lower half of" the ovary; the 

 limb free, 5-cleft. Corolla tleciduous, inserted on the upper part of 

 the tube of the calyx, funuelshapedsalvershaped; tube very short; 

 liuib concave, 5-partite. Pei-fect stjunens 5, altcrnatin<f ^vith 5 scale- 

 like sterile stamens. Capsule half inferior, ovate-globose, opening at 

 the apex by 5 teeth. Seeds numerous, anatropous. 



Herbs with the radical leaves stalked; the stem leaves alternate, 

 sessile, or shortly stalked. Flowers small, in racemes or corymbs. 



Tl\e derivation of the name of this genus of plants is somewhat obscure. It is 

 said by some writers to be a diminutive of Santos, a Grecian island, in whicli it 

 aliounds. 



SPECIES I.-SAMOLUS VALERANDI. Lum. 



Plate ilCLI. 



Eeich. Ic. PI. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XVII. Tab. MLXXXIII. Fig. 3. 

 Dillot, Fl. Gall, et Germ. E.xsicc. No. G2.5. 



Stem erect, simple or paniculately branched, leafy. Leaves obo- 

 vate or oblanceolate, obtuse, the lower ones attenuated into a petiole, 

 the uppennost ones subacute. Racemes many-flowered, elongating in 

 fruit. Capsule subglobosc, shorter than the calyx. 



In wet j)laces, and by the sides of ditches, especially near the sea. 

 Generally distributed, except in the north of Scotland. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Late Summer, Autumn. 



Stem stiff erect, 3 to 30 inches high, nearly simple in small speci- 

 men?, paniculately branched, with the branches ascending, in large ones. 

 Hadical leaves in a rosette, 1 to 5 inches long; stem leaves alternate, 

 decreasing in size the higher they are placed on the stem, and 

 becojning more shortly stalked till the upper ones are quite sessile. 

 Flowers at first corymbose, with the corymb lengthening into a 

 raceme after tlowenng. Pedicles without bracts at the base, erect, 

 ascending, slightly incurved after flowering, much longer than the 

 calyx, each with a small bracteole a little below the calyx. Flowers 

 \ inch across. Calyx tube ovoid in flower, hemispherical in fruit ; 

 segments deltoid. Corolla funnelshaped, not much exceeding the 

 calyx, white, deeply divided into 5 obovate truncate or eniarginate 

 segments, with a scale-like process between each pointing inwards. 

 Filaments short, broad at the base. Style short. Seeds very nume- 



