statice

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. See sea lavender.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of gamopetalous plants, of the order Plambagineæ, type of tribe Staticeæ. It is characterized by its acaulescent or tufted herbaceous or somewhat shrubby habit, flat alternate leaves, inflorescence commonly cymose and composed of one-sided spikes, stamens but slightly united to the petals, and styles distinct to the angles of the ovary, with capitate, oblong, or linear stigmas. Over 120 species have been described, natives of the sea-shore and of desert sands, mostly of the Old World, and of the northern hemisphere, especially of the Mediterranean region. A smaller number occur in America, South Africa, tropical Asia, and Australia. They are usually perennials; a few are diminutive loosely branched shrubs. They are smooth or covered with scurf or dust. The leaves vary from linear to obovate, and from entire to pinnatifld or dissected; they form a rosette at the root, or are crowded or scattered upon the branches. The short-pedicelled corolla consists of five nearly or quite distinct petals with long claws, and is commonly surrounded by a funnel-shaped calyx which is ten-ribbed below, and scarious, plicate, and colored above, but usually of a different color from the corolla, which is often white with a purple or lavender calyx and purplish-brown pedicel. They are known in general as sea-lavender. The common European S. Limonium is also sometimes called marsh-beet from its purplish root; it is the red behen of the old apothecaries. Its American variety, Caroliniana, the marsh-rosemary of the coast from Newfoundland to Texas, is also known as canker-root, from the use as an astringent of its large bitter fleshy root, which also contains tannic acid (whence its name ink-root). The very large roots of S. latifolia are used for tanning in Russia and Spain, and those of S. mucronata as a nervine in Morocco under the name of safrifa. Other species also form valued remedies, as S. Brasiliensis, the guaycura of Brazil and southward. Many species are cultivated for their beauty, as S. latifolia, and S. arborescens, a shrub from the Canaries. In Afghanistan, where several species grow in desert regions, they form a source of fuel.

Wiktionary

1. n. Plants of the genus Limonium having spikes of white or mauve flowers

WordNet 3.0

1. n. any of various plants of the genus Limonium of temperate salt marshes having spikes of white or mauve flowers