364 THE PLUMBAGO FAMILY. [Statkc 



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. auriculcefolia. 



Short, flowerless, intricate branches very numerous . . 3. 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. rariflora, 

 Drejer. It grows in the same situations, and is often very difficult to 

 distinguish, even as a variety. 



2. S. auric ulaefolia, Vahl. (fig. 824). Rock S. — Kesembles in many 

 respects S. Idmonium, 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. Idmonium, 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. Id 



