4 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
it is very similar in size and shape to that of S. fruticosa, but more 
distinctly beaked, and very faintly marked with short striw, and the 
colour is rather pitchy than black. Plant pale glaucous green, often 
turning red or purple towards the close of the year. The erect variety 
is more common in the south, the procumbent in the north; but it is 
scarcely possible to draw any line of demarcation between them. 
Annual Seablite. 
French, Suéda maritime. German, Meerstrands Giinsefiisschen. 
GENUS II.—SALSOLA. Lim. Girt. 
Flowers all perfect. Calyx free from the ovary, of 5 sepals (very 
rarely 4), on the back of each of which a transverse dorsal wing is 
developed after flowering. Stamens 5, rarely 3; filaments linear, 
often dilated and united at the base. Styles 2 or 3, often united at 
the base. Fruit membranous, rarely slightly fleshy, enveloped in the 
calyx, which has 5 membranous wings spreading like a star. Seed 
horizontal, subglobose; testa single, membranous; albumen none ; 
embryo green, coiled in a spiral. 
Herbs with semicylindrical fleshy leaves, generally recurved and 
prickly at the apex. Flowers axillary, sessile. 
The name of this genus of plants is derived from the Latin words sal, salt, and 
solus, alone, from its saline qualities. 
SPECIESI—SALSOLA KALI. Lim. 
Prats MCLXXX. 
Billot, Fl. Gall. et Germ. Exsice. No. 841. 
Stem diffusely branched, procumbent or ascending; branches not 
articulated. Leaves alternate, sessile, subcylindrical, attenuated into 
subulate spinous points, very fleshy. Flowers solitary or 2 or 3 to- 
gether in the axils of the leaves, arranged in spikes at the termination 
of the branches, which are usually so disposed as to form a panicle. 
Bracts lanceolate, with subulate spinous points. Segments of the fruit 
perianth generally with a large scarious transverse wing on the back, 
or more rarely with the wing minute. Plant (in the form which 
occurs in Britain) with the stem and margins of the leaves clothed 
with cartilaginous spreading hairs. 
On sandy seashores. Common, and generally distributed. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Annual. Late Summer, Autumn. 
Root wiry. Stem much branched, especially from the base, generally 
