PUfMBAGINACES. 235 



Division IV. SYMPETAL^ HYPOGYILE. 



Corolla sympetalous, the stamens attached to its tube, the whole 

 inserted around the base of the ovary. 



Okdbb lxiii. PLUMBAGINACE/E. 



Maritime herbs, with radical leaves clasping the stem at their insertion. 

 Flowers regular, 5-merpus, perfect. Calyx 5-plaited, 5-toothed, persist- 

 ent. Petals with long claws united into a ring at base. Stamens 

 opposite the petals and joined to their base. Fruit utricular or achene- 

 like, in the bottom of the calyx; the one seed with straight embryo in 

 mealy albumen. 



1. STATICE, Dalechamps. Leaves narrowly linear, in a close radical 

 tuft. Flowers in a single globose head terminating a simple scape. 



1. S. Armeria, L. Leaves flat, 1-nerved: scape solitary, stoutish, 

 1 ft. high or more: fl. dull pink or flesh-color. — Along sandy beaches in 

 wet ground, or occasionally in elevated stations among the hills of the 

 seaboard. May, June. 



2. LIMOMUM, Diosc. Leaves ample and rather few. Flowers in 

 short spikes terminating the many branchlets of a branching scape. 



1. L. commune, S. P. Gray, var. Culifornlcuiii (Boiss.). Leaves 

 8 — 10 in. long, obovate-oblong, entire, fleshy ^coriaceous: scape 1 — 2 ft. 

 high, the spikes corymbose-panicled: calyx- tube more or less hairy on 

 the angles. — In salt marshes, plentiful. Sept. — Nov. 



Obddr lxiv. PLANTAGINACE£. 



Comprising scarcely more than the genus 



1. PLANTAGfO, Pliny (Plantain). Acaulescent herbs with elongated 

 leaves, and spikes of colorless small flowers on naked scapes, each flower 

 subtended by a bract. Calyx of 4 persistent imbricated sepals free from 

 the ovary. Corolla short-salverform, scarious, persistent; its limb 

 4-parted, imbricate in bud. Stamens 2 — 4, inserted on the corolla alter- 

 nate with its lobes. Style filiform, all the upper part pubescent and 

 stigmatic. Fruit a circumscissile capsule, few- or many-seeded. Embryo 

 straight; albumen fleshy. 



* Corolla remaining expanded, i. e. not closed ooer I lie fruit. 



1. P. ma job, L. Perennial, stout, glabrous or sparsely pubescent: 

 leaves ovate or oval, 3—10 in. long, very distinctly 5— 7 -ribbed, entire or 

 somewhat toothed: spikes linear, elongated, the naked part of the scape 

 not as long as the leaves: capsule ovoid, obtuse, circumscissile near the 



