GLAUX MARITIMA. BLACK SALTWORT.
GLAUX maritima.
GLAUX maritima. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 301. Huds. Angl. p. 101. Lightf. Scot. p. 147. With. Bot.
A rr. ed. 4. vol. 2 . p. 263. FI. D an. t. 548. Willd. Sp. PI. vol. \ .p . 1210. Hoffm. Germ,
ed. 2. vol. 1. P . I. p. 115. Smith FI. B rit. p. 268. Engl. Bot. t. 13. Decand. Fl. Fr.
ed. 2. vol. 3. p. 411. FI. Gall. Syn. p. 326. Pers. Syn. PI. vol. 1. p. 262. Alton Hort. Kero,
ed. 2. vol. 2. p. 62. Wahl. FI. Lapp. p. 67. Hook. FI. Scot. P . I. p. 82.
GLAUX maritima. Sea Milkwort, or Black Saltwort. Rail Syn. p. 285.
Class a n d O r d e r . PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
[N a tu r a l Or d e r . PRIMULACEÆ, Adanson ; St. Hilaire in Mém. du Mus. vol. 4. p. 61. t. 4. f . 29.;
Hook. SALICARIÆ, Juss., Decand.\
Ge n . Ch a r . Perianthium simplex, inferum, campanulatum, coloratum, quinquelobum. Capsula globosa, uni-
locularis, quinqucvalvis, subpentasperma.
G e n . Ch a r . Perianth single, inferior, campanulate, coloured, five-lobed. Capsule globose, one-celled, five-
valved, about five-seeded.
Ra d ix longe descendens, perennis; subfusiformis, parum
lignosa, tortuosa, hie illic fibrosa; fibris pallidis,
ramosis.
Ca u l is erectus, digitalis ad palmarem, e basi ramosus,
crassiusculus, teres, adscendens, viridis, ssepe pur-
pureo tinctus, foliosus.
Folia numerosa, plerumque sparsa, nunc opposita, nunc
terna, patentia, oblonga, acutiuscula, subcarnosa,
saturate viridia, glabra, integerrima, subtus pal-
lidiora, obsolete punctulata.
Flores axillares, solitarii, sessiles.
P e r ia n t u ium simplex, corollaceum, subcarnosum, late
campanulatum, pallide roseum, punctis minutis
saturatioribus pictum, quinquelobum; lobis ob-
tusis, patentibus, integerrimis.
St am in a quinque, hypogyna, perianthii lobis alter-
nantia, pauloque brevfora, erecta: Filamenta
rosea: Antherse fuscescentes: Pollen flavum, glo-
bosum.
P istil lum viride: Germen ovatum: Stylus filiformis:
Stigma obtusum.
P e r ic a r p ium : Capsula globosa, acuta, fusca, basi corolla
staminibusque marcescentibus cincta, quin-
quevalvis, unilocularis: Receptaculum magnum,
globosum, centrale, liberum, spongiosum.
S em in a pauca, alia abortiva, plerümque quinque perfecta,
receptaculo immersa, remota, fusca, angu-
losa, dorso planiuscula, basi subconica, punctulata.
Albumen carnosum : Embryo immersus,
transversalis (umbilico parallelus).
Fig. 1. Flower. Fig. 2. Section of a flower to show the
Fig. 4. Pistil. Fig. 5. Transverse section of an adv
pistil. Fig. 7. Capsule (natural size). Fig. 8. Caps
removed from the receptacle. Fig. 10. Seed cut
or less magnified.
Root striking deeply into the ground, perennial; somewhat
spindle-shaped, rather woody, twisted,
fibrous at intervals; the fibres pale, branched.
St em erect, from a finger's to a hand’s length high,
branched from the base, thickish, rounded, ascending,
green, often tinged with red, leafy.
L eaves numerous, mostly scattered, sometimes opposite,
sometimes ternate, patent, oblong, rather acute,
inclined to fleshy, o f a deep green, glabrous, quite
entire, paler beneath, indistinctly dotted.
F lowers axillary, solitary, sessile.
P e r ia n t h single, corolliform, somewhat fleshy, broadly
bell-shaped, pale rose-coloured, dotted with mi-
. nute deeper-coloured dots, five-lobed; the lobes
obtuse, spreading, entire.
Stam en s five, hypogynous, alternating with the lobes
of the perianth, and rather shorter than them,
erect: Filaments rose-coloured: Anthers brownish
: Pollen yellow, globose.
P is t il green : Germen ovate: Style filiform : Stigma
obtuse.
P e r ic a r p : Capsule globose, acute, brown, surrounded
' with the base of the corolla and the decaying
stamens, five-valved, one-celled: Receptacle large,
globose, central, free, spongy.
S e ed s few, some abortive, generally five perfect, immersed
in the receptacle, remote, brown, angular,
flatfish on the back, subconical at the base,
dotted: Albumen fleshy: Embryo immersed,transverse
(parallel to the umbilicus).
pistil and the insertion of the stamens. Fig. 3. Stamen,
anced germen. Fig. 6. Vertical section of an advanced
ule, in the act of opening, with five valves. Fig. 9■ Seed
n to show the embryo and albumen.— A ll but fig. 7. more
A delicate and very elegant maritime plant, abundant in muddy salt marshes, but which, from its being frequently
concealed among grass, or under the edge of ditch-banks, does not obtrude itself upon the casual observer.
When closely examined, few flowers appear more beautiful than this, which has its delicate rose-coloured blossoms
minutely sprinkled with deeper tints of the same colour; and these nestled among the numerous dark green leaves.
In the month of June, the inflorescence of the Glaux maritima is perfect; and in August the seeds are ripe. The
specimens from which the accompanying figures have been taken, were gathered at Fairlie, on the coast of Ayrshire,
Scotland, by Charles Parker jun. Esq.
The genus Glaux was arranged among the Salicariee by Jussieu, notwithstanding that its stamens are hypogynous
instead of perigynous. MM. de Sal vert and Auguste de St. Hilaire, in a memoir upon the subject, have satisfactorily
shown that its affinities are with the Primulacece, u">d that it only wants one of the two floral coverings
to accord completely with that order; in which, indeed, Adanson, in his Families des Plantes, has already placed
it, although without assigning his reason for so doing. It may hert, however, be observed, that Adanson asserts
that he has found the Glaux having in some of its flowers a petal attached to one of its stamens alternating with
the divisions of the calyx. Unquestionably the similarity with the genus Anagallis, and especially with the A. te-
nella, is very striking.