Localities.— Sandy sea shores; frequent.— Cornwall; On the sea sho;c: 
Mr. H. C. Watson, in N. 13. G.— Devonshire ; Frequent on the coast: FI. 
Devon. On the shore near Barnstaple: Mr. H. 0. Watson, in N. B. G. — 
Durham; On the sandy sea beach, common: N. J. Wincii, Esq. — Essex; 
At Walton: J. G. in Loud. Mag. of Nat. Hist. v. iv. p. 446. — Kent ; In South 
Kent: Rev. G.E. Smith. On the shore between Graveney and Se;n alter, near 
Faversham, not common : E. Jacob, Esq. 1777. — Lancashire ; Southport; and 
on the banks of the Mersey near Liverpool : G. Crosfield, Esq. Bootle : Mr. 
H C. Watson, in N. B. G. — Norfolk; Near Yarmouth, 1837 : Dam son Tur- 
ner, Esq. — Northumberland ; Common on the sandysea beach : N. J. Winch, 
Esq. — In Somersetshire : Dr. Garter, (now Southby,) in N. B.G. — York- 
shire; N. Sands, Scarborough: Rev. A. Bloxam, and E. F. Witts, Esq. — 
WALES. Anglesey ; In drifted sand, not rare: Kev. II. Davies. — Denbigh- 
shire; North coast: J. E. Bowman, Esq. in N. B. G. — Merionethshire ; Bar- 
mouth: Magaz. Nat. Hist.— SCOTLAND. Sandy sea shores, frequent: Sir 
J. W. Hooker. — IRELAND. Sea shores, frequent: Mr. Mackay. — On the 
coast of Waterford, near Ooolum, 1837: Countess of Carrick. Near the 
Black Rock, about four miles S. E. from Dublin : Scientific Tourist through 
Ireland. On the sea shore at the bottom of Ballyheigh Bay, C. of Kerry : ibid. 
Annual. — Flowers in July and August. 
Root tapering, fibrous. Stems angular, decumbent, from 6 in- 
ches, to a foot or more long, much branched, rigid, and clothed 
with whitish, awl-shaped, bristly hairs. Leaves alternate, fleshy, 
awl-shaped, spreading, channelled, a little dilated and membranous 
at the base, clothed more or less with short bristly hairs, and termi- 
nated' with a very sharp spine. Flowers axillary, solitary, sessile, 
each with 3, leaf-like, spinous pointed bracteas at the base (see 
fig. 1). Calyx (fig. 2.) yellowish-white, membranous, with 5 seg- 
ments, each of which is furnished with a small tooth-like process 
externally at its base, which becomes dilated, and the tips of the 
segments closely converging cover the capsule (see figs. 5 & 6). 
Capsule (figs. 7 & 8.) turbinate or top-shaped, winged (see figs. 
6 & 7.) with the permanent rigid calyx. Seed solitary, its cotyle- 
dons curiously twisted into a spiral form (see figs. 11 & 12), by which 
character this genus is distinguished from that of Chcnopodium. 
Salsola Kali , together with a few other plants of a similar nature, which are 
common on the shores of most parts of the world, are of much economical importance 
on account of the soda they afford, and which constitutes a material ingredient in 
the manufacture of soap and glass. In the south of France, and on the Mediter- 
ranean shores of Spain, especially in the huerta of Murcia, the Salsola? , (especially 
Salsola soda) are extensively cultivated, and when burned, their ashes form the 
Barilla of commerce, as the ashes of sea-weeds form kelp. To obtain the fossil 
alkali, the plants are well dried and placed in a deep trench upon cross bars, beneath 
which a fire is lighted, when they are violently agitated, and on cooling settle into 
solid masses. We are informed by Professor Burnett, (in his very interesting and 
useful work, the “ Outlines of Botany, v. ii. p. 592,) that during the war, when the 
demand for soda was great, and the gains on its production large, the growers ex- 
tended their Salsola fields inland, but found, to their disappointment, that although, 
as long as the land sloped upwards from the sea, the Salsola) were rich in soda ; yet, 
as soon as they began to slope inland, the plants ceased to produce soda, and only 
furnished potash. It appears, therefore, to be essential for the elaboration ol alkali 
that they should be subject to the influence of the sea winds impregnated with saline 
vapours, and bearing to them particles of salt. 
The Drawing for the accompanying plate was made from a specimen which was 
kindly communicated to me by the Countess of Carbick, from the vicinity of 
Waterford, Ireland.— I am also indebted to Dawson Turner, Esq. F. L. S. &c. for 
specimens from the neighbourhood of Yarmouth, Norfolk. 
Salsola fruticosct of E. B. t. 635, is Chenopodium f rut i cosum of Lind lev 
and Hooker. 
