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SEA LAVENDER MARSH ROSEMARY CANKERROOT INKROOT
(Limonium Carolinianum; Statice Limonium of Gray) Plumbago
family
Flowers - Very tiny, pale, dull lavender, erect, set along upper
side of branches. Calyx 5-toothed, tubular, plaited; corolla of 5
petals opposite as many stamens; 1 pistil with 5 thread-like
styles. Scape: 1 to 2 ft. high, slender, leafless, much branched
above. Leaves: All from thick, fleshy rootstock, narrowly oblong,
tapering into margined petioles, thick, the edges slightly waved,
not toothed; midrib prominent.
Preferred Habitat - Salt meadows and marshes.
Flowering Season - July-October.
Distribution - Atlantic coast from Labrador to Florida,
westward along the Gulf to Texas; also in Europe.
Seen in masses, from a little distance, this tiny flower looks
like blue-gray mist blown in over the meadows from the sea, and
on closer view each plant suggests sea-spray itself. Thrifty
housewives along the coast dry it for winter bouquets, partly for
ornament and partly because there is an old wives' tradition that
it keeps away moths. Statice, from the Greek verb to stop, hence
an astringent, was the generic name formerly applied to the
plants, with whose roots these same old women believed they cured
canker sores.
Next: FRINGED GENTIAN
Previous: VIOLETS
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