This curious plant grows on sandy seashores in England, but it is not
common in Scotland, and it will not grow far North.
The flowers grow in clover-shaped heads at the ends of very stiff stems.
These flowers are very small, of a whitish-blue colour, and they are not
at all attractive. If you examine one closely you find that the petals
stand straight up, and each petal has a pointed beak which bends forward
towards the centre of the flower. The stamens also curve inwards.
Outside this cluster of flowers there is a crowded mass of small green
leaves, and each leaf ends in three short points. These leaves are a
yellow-green colour, but all the rest of the flower is a beautiful
grey-blue.
The stems of the Sea Holly are stiff, with ridges running up them, and
the leaves have no stalks of their own, but grow in a circle of three or
five, tightly clasping the main stem. These leaves are very smooth and
thick. They are grey-blue in colour, with yellow-green patches between
the veins, and they have very hard edges which are waved all round. Each
of these waves ends in a sharp point.
The Sea Holly is quite as prickly as the Christmas Holly, and as it
grows low down among the sands, bare-footed children must be careful not
to stand on it.
PLATE XLV: 1. GERMANDER SPEEDWELL. 2. BROOKLIME SPEEDWELL.
3. GREAT WATER FORGET-ME-NOT.