364 THE PLUMBAGO FAMILY. [Statice 
Leaves usually not above an inch, with 1 or 3 ribs, and no pin- 
nate veins. Panicle elongated, usually 1-sided. 
Branches all, or nearly all flowering . ‘ . .» 2 S. aureueofolia. 
Short, flowerless, intricate branches very numerous ; . 8 S. reticulata. 
Several exotic species are occasionally cultivated in our flower-gardens 
or planthouses. ; 
1. S. Limonium, Linn. (fig. 823). Sea Lavender.—Stock short and 
thick, with tufts of radical leaves from 2 to 5 or 6 inches long, obovate 
or oblong, quite entire, glabrous, and narrowed at the base into a long 
stalk; the midrib is alone prominent when fresh, but when dry the 
lateral reticulate veins branching from it distinctly appear. Flower- 
stem erect, leafless, 6 inches to a foot or even more. high, repeatedly © 
forked, so as to form a broad corymbose panicle, with a membranous 
bract at each division. Flowers numerous, in short, rather loose spikes 
at the ends of the branches, with a green bract, coloured at the edge, 
under each flower. Calyx green at the base, dry, scarious, and of a 
pale purple in its upper part, with 5 short, broad teeth, which are often 
slightly toothed or jagged. Petals of a ‘bluish purple, at the time of 
flowering rather longer than the calyx, but the latter becomes subse- 
quently much enlarged, so as to assume the appearance of a corolla 
concealing the real one. 
In maritime sands and salt-marshes, on the coasts of western Europe, 
the Mediterranean, and western Asia, and apparently the same species 
on the South American and Californian sea-shore. Frequent on the 
coasts of England and Ireland; eastern Scotland only. Fl. summer and 
autumn. A small variety, with less compact spikes, has been described 
as a species, under the name of S. bahusiensis, Fries, or S. rarzflora, 
Drejer. It grows in the same situations, and is often very difficult to 
distinguish, even as a variety. 
2. S. auriculeefolia, Vahl. (fig. 824). Rock S.—Resembles in many 
respects S. Lamonium, but the tufted stock is more branched and com- 
pact. The leaves are much smaller, usually scarcely 1 and rarely 2 
inches long, with shorter stalks, and, when dry, often show a lateral 
nerve on each side of the midrib, but never any diverging veins. Stems 
about 6 to 10 inches high. Spikes more compact, with rather larger 
flowers than in S. Zimonium, but the spikes themselves are fewer and 
more distant, forming an elongated, not a corymbose panicle. The 
bracts are greener and longer. S. binervosa, G. E. Sm. _ S, intermedia, 
Syme, S. Dodartii, Gir., and S. occidentalis, Lloyd. 
On dry, rocky, maritime banks, or more rarely in sands, on the 
shores of western Europe, penetrating also far along the Mediter- 
ranean. In Britain, it extends up the west coast to Wigtonshire, 
but not beyond Lincolnshire on the east coast, and occurs in Ireland. 
Fl. summer. 
3. S. reticulata, Linn. (fig. 825). Matted S.—This is a still smaller 
plant than the last, with leaves often not more than 6 lines long; the 
lower branches of the panicle numerous, very much branched, and 
usually without flowers, whilst the central ones bear numerous short 
spikes of small flowers, with the bracts white and scarious nearly 
from the base. _ S. bellidifolia, Gouan. | 
In maritime sands, all round the Mediterranean and in western 
Asia, extending more sparingly up the west coast of France. In 
