Limonium carolinianum (Carolina sea-lavender)

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Limonium carolinianum (Walter) Britton

Carolina sea-lavender, canker root, ink root, marsh root, lavender thrift, American thrift, seaside thrift

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Caryophyllidae	Cacti, many other succulents, carnivorous plants, and leadworts
Order	Plumbaginales	A relatively small order of shrubby or herbaceous plants
Family	Plumbaginaceae	Includes the leadwort and plumbago families
Genus	Limonium	from the ancient Greek name Leimonion, supposedly from leimon, “a marsh” (ref. genus Limonium)
Species	carolinianum	Of or from Carolina

About plant names...

Carolina sea-lavender is native to salt marshes along the entire east coast of North America, including Canada and Mexico. It prefers brackish or salt marshes and flats, coastal beaches, marshes, and intertidal ocean areas.

Plants: These slow-growing perennials look a bit out of place in otherwise nearly uniform masses of salt marsh grasses. From a distance, when blooming, they look like sprays of pale purplish tumbleweed. Plants are 1-3′ (30-91 cm) × 1-2′ (30-60 cm).

Leaves: Basal rosettes 1¾-10″ (5-25 cm) around (rarely up to 1′ (40 cm). Leaves are spatulate, obovate, or elliptic. They are 1¾-6″ (5-15 cm) × ⅛-1¾″ (5-50 mm), leathery in texture, with smooth edges and sharp tips. The leaves have salt glands that excrete excess salt, in order to survive marine environments.

Flowers: Large intricately branched inflorescences contain hundreds of diminutive flowers. Each flower is 1/16-⅛″ (2-3 mm) in size, with five petals and five stamens, and blue to purple, or rarely white. Flowers appear from June to December.

Fruits: Tiny seeds.

Here are a couple of sea-lavenders (Limonium species), easily distinguished by their ranges:

8/24/2023 · Morse Mountain, Phippsburg, Maine · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm)

8/24/2023 · Morse Mountain, Phippsburg, Maine · ≈ 10 × 6″ (24 × 16 cm)

8/24/2023 · Morse Mountain, Phippsburg, Maine · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm)

	You are here Limonium carolinianum	*Limonium perezii*
Common Name	Carolina sea-lavender	sea lavender
Plant	Plants are 1-3′ (30-91 cm) × 1-2′ (30-60 cm). From a distance, when blooming, they look like sprays of pale purplish tumbleweed.	Herbaceous perennial up to 3′ (1 m) in size.
Flowers	Large intricately branched inflorescences contain hundreds of diminutive flowers. Each flower is 1/16-⅛″ (2-3 mm) in size, with five petals and five stamens, and blue to purple, or rarely white. Flowers appear from June to December.	A multiply-branched panicle 6-18″ (15-45 cm) in size. Each flower has lavender [Glosssary(sepals)] and white petals. Branchlets supporting flowers are *winged*. Each flower has a funnel-shaped blue-purple calyx with a deep purple center ⅜″ (1 cm) in size, and a white flower. From a distance, the blue-purple color dominates. Flowers appear from March to September.
Leaves	Basal rosettes 1¾-10″ (5-25 cm) around (rarely up to 1′ (40 cm). Leaves are spatulate, obovate, or elliptic. They are 1¾-6″ (5-15 cm) × ⅛-1¾″ (5-50 mm), leathery in texture, with smooth edges and sharp tips.	A basal rosette. Leaves are thick, somewhat wavy, oval to round, up to 1½-6″ (4-15 cm) × ⅞-2½″ (2.5-7 cm). Each leaf’s petiole (stem) is longer than the leaf.
Fruit	Tiny seeds.	Inconspicuous.
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 4-9
Habitats	Native to salt marshes along the *entire east coast of North America, including Canada and Mexico*. It prefers brackish or salt marshes and flats, coastal beaches, marshes, and intertidal ocean areas.	Along the *California coast,* in disturbed coastal areas, cliffs, sand dunes, and roadsides, at elevations below 328′ (100 m)
Type	Wild	Wild