Samolus
(an old name which Pliny ascribes to the Druids, and which is thought by Sprengel to refer to S. Valerandi). Brook-weed. ORD. Primulaceoe. A genus comprising about eight species of greenhouse or hardy herbs, sometimes shrubby at base. S. Valerandi is cosmopolitan, growing wild in Britain, and the rest are mostly found on the seashores of extra-tropical Southern regions. Flowers white, in terminal racemes or corymbs; calyx one-half superior, the limb five-fid; corolla perigynous, nearly campanulate, five-parted; stamens five. Leaves alternate, the lower ones sometimes rosulate, linear, oblong, or spathulate, entire. The species have no great ornamental value. One only calls for description here. It thrives freely in ordinary soil, in a moist position; and may be increased by division.
S. repens (creeping). fl. pinkish-white, usually four to five lines across; corolla tube broad, as long as the ovate lobes. August. l., radical ones petiolate, ovate or oblong; cauline ones usually small, linear or oblong. Stems simple or branched, prostrate or erect, and 6in. to 12in. high. Australia, 1806. Hardy perennial. (L. B. C. 435, under name of S. littoralis.)