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.