LVIII. VERBENACEA. 363 
with the style proceeding from the top. Fruit dry or succulent, 
usually shorter than the persistent calyx, 2- or 4-celled, with 1 
seed in each cell. 
A large family, chiefly American or from the warmer regions of Asia 
and Africa. Besides the numerous cultivated species of Verbena, several 
exotic genera, such as Lantana, Vitex, etc., are familiar to our gardeners. 
I VERBENA. VERVEIN. 
Herbs or rarely shrubs, with opposite stem-leaves, and alternate flowers 
in terminal spikes. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla with a distinct tube, and a 
rather unequally 5-cleft, spreading limb. Stamens 4, or rarely only 2, 
included in the'tube. Fruit enclosed in the calyx, dividing into 4 one- 
seeded nuts. 
A genus confined in Europe to one or two species, but comprising 
numerous American ones, which have been still more multiplied in our 
gardens by the more or less permanent varieties or races produced by 
cultivation, 
1, VW. officinalis, Linn. (fig. 820). Common Vervein.—A nearly 
glabrous, erect perennial, 1 to 2 feet high, with long, spreading, wiry 
branches. Lower leaves obovate or oblong, stalked, and coarsely toothed 
or cut ; the upper ones few, sessile, and lanceolate. Flowers very small, in 
long, slender spikes, the lower ones becoming distant as the spike lengthens, 
each one sessile in the axil of a small bract. 
On roadsides and in waste places, in central and southern Europe and 
Asia, extending northwards into southern Sweden. Frequent in the 
southern counties of England, rare in the north and in Ireland, unknown 
in Scotland, £7, summer and autumn. 
LIX. PLUMBAGINEA, THE PLUMBAGO FAMILY. 
Herbs, or rarely undershrubs, usually hard and stiff; the 
leaves mostly or entirely radical; the flowers in terminal heads, 
spikes or panicles. Calyx tubular, often enlarged and _ petal- 
like at the top. Corolla of 5 petals, often united at the base. 
Stamens 5, inserted at the base of the corolla or between the 
petals. Ovary single, with one cell, and a single, suspended 
ovule, but bearing 5 styles, either quite distinct or united below 
the middle. Capsule either indehiscent or opening irregularly, 
and enclosing a single seed. 
A small family, extending over most parts of the world, but chiefly 
within the influence of the sea-air, or occasionally on high mountains, 
Besides the two British genera, some species of Plumbago or Leadwort 
(which gives its name to the family) are cultivated as ornamental plants in 
our gardens. 
Flowers in terminal panicles or spikes. Styles glabrous . » 1. Sraricer, 
Flowers in globular heads, Styles hairy at the base . : . 2. ARMERIA, 
