64 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
generally found on an open common. The following lines, addressed to the Great Sun-Dew, are by an 
American poet:— 
“ By the lone fountain’s secret bed, 
Where human footsteps rarely tread ; 
’Mid the wild moor or silent glen, 
The Sun-Dew blooms, unseen by men ; 
Spreads there her leaf of rosy hue, 
A chalice for the morning dew ; 
.And ere the summer’s sun can rise, 
Drinks thepuro waters of the skies.” 
CHAPTER X. 
THE SEA-HEATH FAMILY. (Frankeniace.®, St . Hilaire.) 
Character of the Order. —Sepals 4—5, united in a furrowed 
tube, persistent, equal. Petals alternate with the sepals, hypogynous, 
unguiculate, with appendages at the base of the limb. Stamens hypo¬ 
gynous, either equal in number to the petals, and alternate with them, 
or having a tendency to double the number. Anthers roundish, versatile. 
Ovarium superior. Style filiform, bifid or trifid. Capsule oue-celled, 
enclosed in the calyx, two, three, or four-valved, many-seeded ; dehis¬ 
cence septicidal. Seeds attached to the margins of the valves, very 
minute. Embryo straight, erect, in the midst of albumen. Herbaceous 
plants or under-shrnbs. Stems very much branched. Leaves opposite, 
exstipulate, with a membranous sheathing base. Flowers sessile in the 
divisions of the branches, and terminal, embosomed in leaves. {Lind.) 
Description, &c. —There is only one genus in this order. 
GENUS I. 
THE SEA-HEATH. (Frankenia, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Style trifid, with oblong lobes, the inner surface of which is stigmatic. Capsule of three or four-valves, 
many-seeded. {Dec.) 
Description, &c. —These are pretty little plants, growing close to the ground on the sea-shore like a dwarf 
species of Heath, and hence their English name. The botanic name was given to it in honour of Dr. Frankenius, 
a Professor of Botany at Upsal. Only two species have been found in England. This genus is placed in the 
Linnaean class Ilexandria, on account of its six stamens ; and in the order Monogynia, from its single style. 
1 —THE COMMON SEA-HEATH. (Frankenia lawis, Lin .) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 205 ; 2nd ed., t. 463; and our fig. 3, , Specific Character. —Flowers solitary. Leaves linear, revolute, 
in PI. 14. | crowded ; fringed at the base. {Smith.) 
Description, &c.— This is a little, creeping, perennial plant ; only found in muddy, salt marshes, and 
generally on the eastern coast of England. Its pretty little flowers are sometimes found on the tips of the 
branches, and sometimes in the axils of the leaves. There is another species called the powdery Sea-Heath, 
F. pulverulenta, which is an annual found occasionally on the coast of Sussex ; though it is said to be one of the 
rarest of the British plants. 
“ Of humble growth, scarce rising from the earth, 
It crouches in the shade that gave it birth, 
As though ’twerc conscious of its want of worth.” 
