S A L I C O R N I A fruticosa.
Shrubby. Jointed Glasswort,
MONANDR1A Monogynia.
Gen. C har. Calyx swelling, undivided. Petals none,
Starrpens 1 or 2. Seed 1, enclosed in the calyx.
Spec. Char. Stem woody, ascending. Joints and
interstices cylindrical. Spikes nearly sessile, c y lindrical,
obtuse.
S y n . Salicornia fruticosa. Linn. Sp. PI. 5, Sm. FI,
B rit. 3 . With. 3. Hull. ed. 2. 2.
S . europaea y. Huds. 1.
- Ka li geniculatuni perenne fruticosius procumbens.
R a ii Syn. 1$6.
K a li. Carrier. E p it. 246.
T h i s plant has found a place in the FI. Brit, on the authority
of the original specimens which Ray and Dillenius had before
them, as well as of others found by Mr.’Yalden near Weymouth;
all which have been compared with the Linnsean one, taken to
them on purpose. Several of our most intelligent friends, having
sought for the pjant in vain at Weymouth, we are reduced to the
necessity of delineating one of Mr. Yalden’s specimens, now in
Her Majesty’s possession; permission having been graciously
given to Mr. Sowerby for that purpose. It will serve to show
wjiat all the above synonyms intend, if not to establish this
Salicornia as a certain species. We should have no doubts,
were it still to be found on any part of our coasts. The cylindrical
slender interstices of the joints, the small short dense spikes,
and the shrubby much-branched stem, all indicate a specific distinction.
’ But it is not impossible that these characters may all
take place in our S. radicans, 1. 1691, whenever a, few successive
mild winters may allow it to acquire a more permanent and
woody stem than usual. Still however we find the style only
simply divided, at least in the Linnaean herbarium. The other
specimens have not been examined in that respect.