Obdeb 80.— PLUMBAGINACEJE. 607 



y Can. to 6a. Common in pastures and grass lands. Easily known Dy its longer 

 Its. tapering at the base into a broad stallc, and with from 3 to 5 .strong ribs ; by 

 its shorter spike (1 to 2' long), with dark colored corollas, and whitish, projecting 

 stamens, and its slender, upright stalk (S to 15' long) with prominent angles. 

 Flowering from May to Oct. It is freely eaten by cattle. 



5 P. sparsifldra Mx. Lvs. lanceolate or oblong, tapering at eacli end, petiole 

 flat ; ped. slender, terete, much longer than the lvs. ; spike long, remotely-flowered, 

 or interrupted; hracts, sepals and brown petals obi/use. — Moist pine barrens, 8. Car. 

 and Ga. (Curtis). Plant usually smooth often pubescent belovy. Fl6wers all sum- 

 mer. (P. interrupta Lam.) 



6 P. maritima L. Lvs. linear, channelSd, nearly entire, woolly at base ; spikes 

 cylindrical, dense ; scape round ; posterior sep. concave and crested on the hack. — 

 Grows in salt marshes, along the coast. Me. to IST. J. It has a large perennial 

 root sending up a scape varying in height from 3' to If, and numerous, very 

 fleshy, dark green, linear leaves, deeply grooved on the inside and G to 10' long. 

 Spike slender, of numerous, subimbricate, whitish fls. Aug. 



,P, juucoides. Lvs. erect, entire, linear, fleshy, attenuated to the subacute 

 apex, bearded at base ; scapes terete, scarcely longer than the lvs. ; spikes oblong, 

 nostly loose-flowered ; bracts orbicular-ciliate ; sep. not crested. — Salt marshes, N. 

 J. Plant more slender than the preceding. Jl. (P. maritima /?. Poir.) 



8 P. aristata Mx. Lvs. linear, erect, villous; ped. terete, longer than the leaves; 

 spikes cylindrical, dense-flowered, villous when young ; bracts attenuated to long, 

 setaceous, rigid awns ; cor. lobes round-cordate, uniformly colored, conspicuous ; 

 seeds large, finely punctate in hnes. — Prairies in 111., abundant at Odin's Station. 

 Lvs. 3 to 4' long. Ped. with spike about 9' high, the latter beset with awns 3 to 

 6 to 8'' long. Ju., Jl. (P. Patagonica Gray.) 



9 P. Virginica L. Lesser Plantain. Lvs. obovate-lanceolate, hoary pubes- 

 cent, subdenticulate ; scape angular; spikes cylindric, pubescent, dense-flowered 

 above, often loose-flowered below ; seeds rarely more than 2 ; bracts shorter than 

 the ciliate sep. — A biennial species on sandy or stony hills in the southern part of 

 N. Eng. and N. T. to Ga. and La. Much smaller than P. major. The , whole 

 plant is covered with soft, gray pubescence. Scape 4 to 8' high, hairy. Lvs. 2 

 to 3' long, narrowed at base into petioles, obtuse at the end. Cor. yellowish, with 

 very acute segments, erect when including tho stamens.. Jl. ' (P. purpuruscens 



, Nutt?) 



10 P. heteroph^lla Nutt. Lvs. linear, entire, and with a few slender teeth or 

 lobes, attenuate at each end ; ped. many, slender, as long as the lvs ; spikes loose- 

 flowered ; cor. closed upon the conical fruit, the short lobes crowning it as a crest ; 

 pyxis 10 to 20-seeded. — d) © "Wet grounds. Md. to La. Small and slender. 

 Scape almost threadlike, 4 to T high, lvs. about 3'. (P. pusilla Dene. P. Ludo- 

 viciana Riddell.) 



11 P. pusilla Nutt. I/vs. linear, entire, thin, pubescent ; scapes longer than the 

 lvs., very slender, with scattered or approximate fls. ; fr. scarcely longer than the 

 calyx, crowned with tho cor. lobes, 4-seeded. — ® The smallest species of the 

 genus, 1 to 6' high, in dry soils, N. Y. to Ga. and "W. States. (P. perpusilla 

 Dene.) 



Order LXXX. PLrMBAGINACE^. Leadwokts. 



Herbs or undershrubs with the leaves alternate or all clustered at the root. Flow- 

 ers regular. Galyx tubular, 5-toothed, plaited, persistent. Corolla hypocrateriform, 

 of 5 petals united at base, or sometimes almost distinct. Sta. 3, hypogynous and 

 opposite the petals or inserted on their claws. Ova. 1-ceUed, free from the calyx. 

 Styles 5 (seldom 3 or 4). Fr. a utricle, or dehiscent by valves, containing 1 ana- 

 tropous seed. ■ 



Genera 10, speeies 230, mostly seaside or salt marsh plants, found in nil latitudes. 



ProperiieH. — The root of Statice Limonium is one of the best and most powerful of all astrin- 

 gents. The species of Pliimbaso are neiid and esoliarotic, so much so, that the roots of P. Eu- 

 ropffius are s.aid by Lindley to bo employed in Em-ope by beggars, to raise blisters on the face, 

 in order to excite compassion. 



