324 BORAGiNACEiE. [Lithosperrmim. 



as in P. officinalis, with a stout prominent midrib beneath, at length 6—10 inches 

 long, their margins mostly a little thickened and inflexed, bright grayish green, 

 soft and flexile, hispid bni not harsh with copious erect, pale, simple hairs spring- 

 ing lr<im minute tubercles, usually neljulously spotted with greenish white, more 

 rarely quite plain ; sometimes these spots are very large and confluent, occupying 

 the greater portion of the leaf : stem-leaves hairy and spotted* like the rest, the 

 lower ones more or less and very broadly petiolate, similar in form lo those at the 

 root, but becoming sessile as they ascend ; the uppermost quite so, rounded or 

 cordate at the base and semiamplexicaul, running far down upon the stem into 

 narrow winged angles, mostly broadly ovate, with long points, at other times 

 oblongo-ellipiical, or even in the narrow-leaved state of the plant linear-lanceo- 

 late. Flowers shortly pedicellate, in a terminal leafy cluster of about 3 primary 

 divisions ; in an early stage the inflorescence appears capitate, but becomes 

 spreading in more advanced growth and subpauiculate, the clusters a little 

 recurved. Calyx veiy hispid, ventricose, cleft about ^rd down into 5 equal, trian- 

 gular, acute segments, each traversed by one of the five prominent ribs or angles. 

 iJj-ae^s at the base of the pedicels, ovate-lanceolate, leafy, or wanting. Corolla 

 reddish in the bnd, then violet, and lastly fine ultramarine blue fading into dull 

 blue or purple, the limb funnel-shaped, with 5 rounded equal segments ; lube 

 about the length of the calyx, a little contracted in the middle, while. Stamens 

 very variable in their length and insertion ; alternating with them are 5 small 

 tufts of erect pellucid hairs placed at the top of the tube. Anthers oblongo-ellip- 

 tical, blackish or brownish ; pollen white. Sti/le slightly angular, very variable 

 in length ; stigma capita to- globose, 2-lobed, papiUoso-glandulose. Nuts enclosed 

 in the now much inflated calyx, the segments of which converge and completely 

 conceal them, as in a 6-valved capsule ; one or two often abortive, ovoid, with an 

 acute vertical edge all around, more or less pubescent, very smooth and shining, 

 inserted a little obliquely on a tumid annular gland fitting into a cup-shaped 

 cavity, with a projecting border at the base of the style ; when ripe jet-black, but 

 mostly falling away before attaining maturity. 



The flowers soon lose the brilliancy they at first display, becoming dull purple 

 and wrinkled, and, though produced in long succession, are not individually of 

 long duration, and the later blossoms, opening but few at a time, give, with the 

 half-withered remains of the former ones, a want of neatness which greatly dimi- 

 nishes the elegance of the plant. 



VIII. LiTHOSPEBMDM, Linn. GromweU. 



" Calyx in 5 deep segments. Corolla, funnel-shaped, its moutli 

 naked (or with very minute scales). Stamens included : filaments 

 very short. Style simple. Achenes stony, with a truncated base, 

 seated on an hypogynous disk, free from the style." — Br. Fl. 



1. L. officinale, L. Co^nmon Groimvell. Gray Mill or Gray 

 Millet. " Stem erect very much branched, leaves broadly lan- 

 ceolate acute nerved rough above hairy beneath, tube of the 

 corolla as long as the calyx, achenes smooth." ■ — JSr. Fl. p. 275. 

 E. B. t. 134. 



In dry thickets, hedges and pastures, rough waste places, cornfields, amongst 

 rubbish, ruins, and by waysides ; most frequent perhaps on chalky soils, but 

 scarcely a very common plant in this island. Fl. May, June. Fr. July, Au- 

 gust, li- 



E. Med. — Common in the pits or hollows (old stone workings) in Quarr copse. 

 Nettlestone Point, and between it and the Priory, along the shore. Frequent in 

 Bloodstone copse. In Eagle-head copse, in considerable plenty. 



W. Med. — In Botlomground rew (copse), near Idlecombe. On chalky slopes 

 amongst brushwood between Kock and Comb farm. Brixton. 



