Frankenia
(named after John Frankenius, 1590-1661, Professor of Botany at Upsal, who first enumerated the plants of Sweden, in "Speculum Botanicon," 1638). Sea Heath. Including Beatsonia and Hypericopsis. ORD. Frankeniaceae. Small, prostrate, Heath-like, hardy or halfhardy evergreen plants, with the flowers usually rising from the forks of the branches, or disposed in terminal cymes. Several of the species are pretty subjects for rockwork, or in borders of dry, light, sandy soil. Increased by divisions.
F. capitata Nothria (headed Nothria). fl. pale red, terminal, aggregate; petals toothed. June to August. l. clustered, linear, glabrous, with revolute margins, ciliated at the base. Stems prostrate, glabrous. Cape of Good Hope, 1816. Hardy.
F. corymbosa (corymbose). A synonym of F. Webbii.
F. laevis (smooth).* fl. flesh-coloured, rising from the forks of the stem, terminal or axillary, solitary. July. l. clustered, linear, glabrous, with revolute margins, ciliated at the base. Stems prostrate, rooting. This native species is one of the prettiest. (Sy. En. B. 190.) F. pauciflora (few-flowered). fl. pink, closely sessile in the last forks, forming a more or less dense terminal leafy cyme, and sometimes unilaterally arranged along its branches. July. l. opposite, or the upper ones in whorls of four, oblong-linear, obtuse, or rarely almost acute; margins usually revolute. Branches ascending, dichotomous, erect or divaricate, nearly glabrous, with short down. h. 1ft. Australia, 1824. Half-hardy; shrubby, procumbent. SYN. F. scabra. (B. M. 2896.) F. portulacifolia (Purslane-leaved). fl. red. l. roundish, fleshy, glabrous. Stem shrubby, bushy. h. 6in. St. Helena. Half-hardy. SYN. Beatsonia portulacifolia.
F. pulverulenta (powdery).* fl. red, solitary; petals sub-repand. July. l. roundish - ovate, powdery beneath. h. 3in. South Europe. Hardy.(S. F. G. 344.) F. scabra (rough). A synonym of F. pauciflora.
F. Webbii (Webb's). fl. rose-coloured, in terminal corymbs. June and July. l. clustered, linear, with revolute margins, glabrous, somewhat ciliated at the base. Stems velvety, erect. h. 6in. South-west Europe, &c., 1823. Hardy. SYN. F. corymbosa.