240 COROLLIFLOR^ 



Their properties are various — some are tonic, some intensely acrid, 

 and many contain iodine. The root of Statice Caroliniana is one 

 of the most powerful astringents known ; several species of 

 Plumbago are so acrid that the fresh root is used to raise blisters. 

 Thrift [Armeria) and several kinds of Sea-Lavender [Statice] grow 

 on the seashores of Britain, and are very pretty plants. Other 

 species are cultivated in gardens and conservatories, to which 

 they are highly ornamental. It has been remarked that plants 

 of this Order, like many other marine plants, when growing at a 

 distance from the sea, lose the peculiar salts which they contain 

 in their natural localities. Thrift, for example, as a marine plant 

 contains iodine and soda, but as a mountain or garden plant 

 exchanges these two salts for potash. Some species of Plumbago 

 are grown as garden plants on account of their great beauty, and 

 the British genera, Armeria and Statice, give us exquisite subjects 

 for our hardy herbaceous borders. 



1. Armeria (Thrift). — Flowers in heads ; styles hairy. (Name 

 from the French, armoircs, wardrobes, though in what connection 

 is uncertain.) 



2. Statice (Sea Lavender). — Flowers panicled ; styles smooth. 

 (Name from the Greek, statizo, to stop, from its astringent medi- 

 cinal properties.) 



I. Armeria [Thrift] 



1. A. maritima (Thrift). — Leaves linear ,_ fleshy, forming dense 

 tufts or balls ; flower-stalks springing directly from the roots, leaf- 

 less, downy, 3-6 inches high, and bearing each a roundish head of 

 rose-coloured flowers ; the summit of the flower-stalk is cased in 

 a brown membranous sheath, and the flowers are intermixed with 

 chaffy bracts, or scales ; the fruit is almost winged by the dry, 

 chaffy calyx. Sea-shores and the tops of mountains ; common. — 

 Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



2. A. plantaginea (Plantain Thrift). — Much like the last, but 

 larger, and with broader leaves, marked with 3 or 5 veins. Found 

 in Jersey. — Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



2. Statice [Sea Lavender) 



1. S. Limonium (Sea Lavender). — Leaves oblong, i-ribbed, 

 tipped with a point ; floiver-stalk from the root, leafless, 6-18 

 inches high, branched near the summit into many spreading, 

 spike-like clusters of thin lavender-blue, scentless flowers. Muddy 

 sea-coast ; not unfrequent. — Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



2. 5. spathiilafa (Spathulate Sea-Lavender). — In some respects 

 resembling the last, but distinguished by its leaves being smaller, 

 oblong near the base, and wider above {spathulate), and by its 



